Western United and Adelaide United played out an entertaining goalless draw in the first game of the 2020-21 season of the A-League.
The match began with the visitors starting very positively as an effort from defender Michael Jakobsen went over the crossbar. But as the game went on, the Tarneit-based side started to grow in confidence.
A little after 20 minutes had passed, Dylan Pierias’ well placed ball into the box was met with a powerful header from Aaron Calver. But young goalkeeper James Delianov – who was one of six Reds’ starters aged 23 or younger – was on hand to make the save.
Tomi Juric – who returned to Adelaide after spending seven years away from the club – provided a moment of brilliance after 35 minutes, when a beautiful chip shot had opposing shot-stopper Filip Kurto completely beaten. But the Melbourne-based club were saved by a goal line clearance by Japanese defender Tomoki Imai.
As the first-half drew to an end, Delianov continued to showcase an excellent performance between the posts as he denied a couple of efforts from Western United skipper Alessandro Diamanti.
After a rather uneventful start to the second-half, the hosts’ manager Mark Rudan decided to take Besart Berisha off to be replaced by young striker Ayom Majok making his debut for the club. The substitution appeared to be a strategic one as clubs have not had much of a pre-season due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. That lack of proper pre-season training showed on the players of both sides, as some players appeared to be running out of steam.
In the midst of it all, Connor Pain produced some good attacking momentum down the left and almost scored with a hard hit left-footed shot on one occasion, but Delianov was easily able to get to it because of his excellent positioning.
As the referee brought the game to a halt, neither side had done enough in the attacking third to deserve a win in the season opener.
Adelaide United will take on Melbourne City at home on January 3, while Western United have a three week break before locking horns with the Sky Blues on January 17.
