Final thoughts
Seriously, does anyone want to win this league? Is there a Premiers Plate curse no one’s told me about? First Victory, then Perth, and now Adelaide have all blown their lines this weekend.
At least it means the regular season will go down to the wire. And who knows, maybe Brisbane can sneak into a top six spot without the intervention of a salary cap scandal. Roar lived up to their reputation as the league’s Jekyll and Hyde side today. Can they go far in the finals? It depends which Brisbane side turns up, the one that battered the Mariners last week, or the one that lost three on the bounce beforehand.
The bigger question is just how much of a difference will Marcelo Carrusca make when he returns for Adelaide? They’ve been shocking without him, even last week’s win over Sydney was down to a stunning performance from Galekovic, but when the injured star returns, the Reds should be a much more dangerous prospect.
That’s me done for the night anyway. Thanks for joining me and catch you next time.
Full-time: Adelaide United 2-3 Brisbane Roar
That’s it... although Adelaide aren’t happy. After that late sending off and penalty, you would have thought a bit more time would have been added on. Instead the game restarts for about 10 seconds and then the official blows his whistle. The ref gets a bit of an ear-bashing as a result. Justice was probably done in the end though, looks like there was a missed offside directly before the penalty.
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GOAL! Adelaide United 2-3 Brisbane Roar
90+4mins: Sanchez finishes from the spot. Enough time for an equaliser against 10 men?
90+3mins: Spoke too soon! Bowles gives away a penalty for fouling Boogaard with two minutes to go - and is sent off. Late drama.
90+2mins: Going through the motions now. Come on ref, put this one to bed. Does anyone want to go top of the league? Everyone’s fluffed it so far.
90 mins: Five minutes of stoppage time. Not seen much to suggest Adelaide can get two goals though.
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89 mins: Oooo! A Sanchez header flashes past the post. Young was rooted to the spot. Good cross from Goodwin.
87 mins: Goodwin with a low cross straight down Young’s throat. This is too comfortable for Brisbane.
86 mins: Bring out the catapults and fill the granaries - it’s siege time. Or rather it should be. Adelaide repeatedly forced backwards by good Brisbane defending.
84 mins: Brisbane chewing up valuable time with a drawn-out counter attack. They win a cheap corner and are in no rush to take it. Only three attackers in the box and - surprise surprise - Adelaide defend the cross easily.
82 mins: Brisbane have been very smart this half. They’ve slowed the game down when they’ve needed a breather, and disrupted Adelaide’s pressure by giving away cheap free-kicks. The Reds still battling but the Roar have defended admirably. Cirio denied again after a good run down the left.
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80 mins: Clut on for Solorzano. Bit of time-wasting from the Roar. Solorzano in no rush to come off.
78 mins: The Reds are really ramping up the pressure. Cirio tries to pick out the top corner from about eight yards out but blasts it high and wide.
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76 mins: Bit of a scuffle delays the game. Needless reaction from Djite gives Brisbane a bit of time to breathe.
75 mins: The next five minutes are absolutely crucial. If Brisbane can hold on under this spell of pressure without conceding, that’ll be it. If Adelaide can grab another, it could open the floodgates against a tiring Roar.
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73 mins: Djite goes close. He has time to control the ball and pick out his shot from the edge of the box, but he fires it over.
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72 mins: Definitely a few tired legs in the Brisbane defence, as expected after their midweek exertions. Have they got enough left in the tank to see it out? The Reds look revived. Sanchez scuffs a volley straight to the keeper. Game on.
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GOAL! Adelaide United 1-3 Brisbane Roar
70 mins: Goodwin finishes from close range when a deep cross eludes everyone. He makes no mistake this time. Glimmer of a revival?
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68 mins: Not the ref’s finest hour after allowing Adelaide to take a quick free-kick from a generous position while most of Brisbane’s midfield are up for a corner. The Reds break quickly and a final ball through is blocked, somewhat dubiously, by Brown’s arm. Two mistakes by the ref on my count.
64 mins: On comes Lustica for Broich. And Petratos for Borrello.
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63 mins: Pfft. Broich lays off a short free-kick to Brattan who tries to chip one into the top corner... but instead it sails straight into the keeper’s arms. Training ground move gone wrong.
61 mins: Borrello down and receiving treatment after a bit of a clattering. Doesn’t look too serious although he’s not happy.
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59 mins: Any Sydney fans watching this who wondered what the result would have been last week had Galekovic not been in top form - you have your answer.
57 mins: You sense Adelaide’s heads have gone down. Understandable but not exactly the kind of attitude to lift the fans’ spirits as the finals loom. Will any results go the way they’re expected this weekend? Over to you Phoenix.
55mins: Djite straight up the other end but his shot is easily saved by Young. He should have done better.
GOAL! Adelaide United 0-3 Brisbane Roar
53 mins: Another for Brisbane! Hingert fires home after another mistake from Galekovic. The Reds keeper is having a nightmare. Hingert with the initial attack, Galekovic kicks it straight to a white shirt. A nice one-two back into the box and, bam, Brisbane have a third.
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52 mins: Kaluderovic tries to curl one into the top corner from the edge of the box but it flies just over the bar. Decent chance.
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51 mins: A spell of pressure from the Reds, but they fail to create a chance out of it. You sense Brisbane will start to weaken at some stage, but how long can they hold on and has the damage already been done?
50 mins: A surge from Cirio. He runs and runs... and runs out of space. His eventual cross sails out for a goal kick.
47 mins: Brisbane pick up where they left off. A low, weak shot goes straight at Galekovic but he needs two attempts to secure it. A sign of a loss of confidence?
Second half: Adelaide United 0-2 Brisbane Roar
46 mins: Peeeeep! And we’re back at a somewhat muted Coopers Stadium. Can Adelaide come back from this? Will Brisbane begin to tire after their midweek flight? Let’s see.
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Half-time: Adelaide United 0-2 Brisbane Roar
45+1 mins: Oooo! Borrello hits the side-netting after latching on to a long ball from out wide. And that’s the last kick of the half. Brisbane comfortably on top. See you in 15.
43 mins: Penalty claim. Djite goes down in the box under a strong challenge from Bowles - but the defender got a touch on the ball first. A risky tackle but he gets away with it.
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GOAL! Adelaide United 0-2 Brisbane Roar
39 mins: Oh dear, oh dear. A Galekovic howler! The Reds keeper comes out to claim a looping ball forward, realises he’s out of his box so ends up kicking it back to his own goal and flapping at the bouncing ball as it sails into the net. Hilariously tragic. Last week’s man of the match has just ruled himself out of the running today.
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36 mins: It’s not going Adelaide’s way so far. Now Roar back on the attack. A corner from the right eventually comes into the box but Solorzano is offside. I’m still scratching my head at how Goodwin missed that sitter. Not long ’til half-time now lad. Splash your face with some water.
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33 mins: How did they miss! Djite’s scuffed shot hits the post, but luckily Goodwin is there to finish a simple tap-in - except he hits it wide instead. Oh dear.
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31 mins: Adelaide trying to pass it around a bit. It’s what they’re good at. Not a bad idea as they look a little rattled.
29 mins: It was almost 2-0! Broich steals in at the back post to slide home a low cross, but he’s just offside. Not much in it. A let-off for the Reds.
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28 mins: Roar look like a side with something to play for again. The unexpected chance of playing finals football again has clearly had an impact.
GOAL! Adelaide United 0-1 Brisbane Roar
25 mins: It’s in! Another terrific through-ball and Kaluderovic slides it past Galekovic with his first touch. Great finish, great pass to spring the offside trap, and Brisbane have their noses in front.
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24 mins: Jeggo overhits one while trying to build an Adelaide attack. It’s been frustrating for them so far.
23 mins: After watching Galekovic’s goalkeeping masterclass last week, maybe firing a few speculative shots at him while he’s got the sun in his eyes wouldn’t be a bad tactic. He looked unbeatable when he was unhampered against Sydney.
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21 mins: Plenty of hustle from the Reds but Brisbane have kept mistakes at a minimum so far. Kaluderovic manages to get a shot away under pressure, but it was always going wide.
I think Galekovic would probably agree.
18 mins: Ooo! Galekovic just beats Borrello to a great through-ball. Roar still holding their own against the would-be league leaders.
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16 mins: No sooner have I said that than Brisbane give away a needless corner. Kiss of death. It’s deep and dangerous, but Young grabs hold of it well.
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13 mins: Brisbane have looked surprisingly sharp despite their recent long-haul flight. It usually takes me a week before I can string a sentence together let alone play a game of football. It might take its toll later but, for now, they’ve matched Adelaide.
11 mins: Brisbane on the counter-attack. They don’t have many men forward but they still manage to panic the Reds’ defence into giving away a free-kick. It’s curled in well but the Adelaide defence are equal to it.
9 mins: Cirio should have done better. He’s put clean through but a poor first touch allows Brattan to catch up and hurl himself in front of the shot. The danger eventually disappears. Brattan injures himself in the process but he’s back up and running after a short spell on the sidelines.
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7 mins: I take that back. Brisbane struggling to get out of their own area at the minute as Adelaide crank up the pressure. The Roar deal with it calmly enough though despite the proximity to goal. Good defending.
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5 mins: Djite flashes one across goal but good defending from Brisbane stops it reaching Goodwin. A couple of semi-decent chances so far although it’s been a bit scrappy. Neither side really taking the early initiative.
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2 mins: Ooo! Early chance as Brattan’s dipping free-kick forces the keeper into a low save. Looks like the sun was in Galekovic’s eyes, he seemed to pick it up late.
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Kick-off
1 min: And we’re off... kind of. An early knock to Kaluderovic stops play after about 30 seconds.
Perth’s salary cap scandal throws a whole new light on Brisbane’s 6-1 drubbing of the Mariners last week. No one knew at the time, but that result may well have sealed Brisbane’s spot in the finals. If the Mariners had won (don’t laugh), there would be only two points between them and the Roar now.
The line-ups for today. Some very neat ticks and crosses there, the kind of standard you expect at this level.
Pre-amble
Afternoon everyone, what a difference 24 hours makes eh? Yesterday morning, Brisbane were limping badly in the finals race and leaders Melbourne Victory were expected to put daylight between them and the pack. Quicker than you can say “salary cap scandal”, Victory’s loss and Perth’s woes mean Adelaide have the chance to go two points clear today and the Roar have been handed an unlikely finals reprieve.
Brisbane must be thanking their lucky stars. Not since 32AD has there been such a miraculous resurrection during the Easter holidays. Poor old Perth. At the very least, Tony Sage deserves a chocolate egg from Frans Thijssen (they’re at a reduced price now, so no need to worry about that pesky salary cap).
Of course, Brisbane can still qualify for the finals the old-fashioned way, by finishing in the top six. Victory today would leave sixth-placed Melbourne City sweating like a Matthew McConaughey fan with an iiNet account, but the odds are against Roar. For starters, they’ve just got back from a stamina-sapping, confidence-crushing 3-1 defeat to Suwon Bluewings and, last week’s win over the Mariners aside, they’ve been in very shaky form to say the least.
The continued absence of Marcelo Carrusca is a big blow for Adelaide, but I said exactly the same thing last week and they still beat Sydney. That win lifted them, briefly, to the top of the ladder, and they can turn that little taste of the high life into an extended stay if they take the three points today. Considering how tight it’s been at the top in the last few weeks, a two-point gap would feel like a Tasman-esque gulf heading into the last few rounds.
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Hello and welcome to this afternoon’s blog for Adelaide United and Brisbane Roar’s clash at Coopers Stadium. Adelaide have the chance to go top of the league following Melbourne Victory’s shock loss to the Jets on Friday, while the Roar have been buoyed by the news that they might sneak into the finals as a result of Perth Glory’s salary cap breaches. Richard will be here in a few minutes to take you through today’s action, until then here’s what Paul Connolly makes of the game.
Tiki-taka is one way, not the way
It came as some irony that the league’s best possession-based football team, one that prefers to walk the ball into the net, stole the points off Sydney last week with a Awer Mabil goal borne of a long ball.
With some sour grapes Adelaide were chided about that, as they were about their high yellow card count (7-0 against the Blues) which led Graham Arnold to the conclusion that United were deliberately slowing Sydney’s game with cynical fouls.
Josep Gombau didn’t exactly deny it, either, saying “At this stage of the season it is more important to get points than how we play”. He’s right, too. On the same note the manner of that Mabil goal shows that while it may be good to have a stylistic default it’s better still to be able to adapt to the game at hand and take whatever road leads to goals, Route One or otherwise.
Even Barcelona have moved away from pure tiki-taka and they are arguably more enjoyable to watch for it. It will be interesting to see Adelaide’s tactics against Brisbane at home where the onus will be on them to set the tone.
