Five moments from Adelaide United v Perth Glory in Round 4 of the Hyundai A-League 2014/15 Season
1. In Control and Attacking Early
Despite playing three games in just over a week, Adelaide United burst out of the gates against Perth Glory at Coopers Stadium yesterday. The Reds played Gombau’s style of attacking, possession dominant football to a tee. United controlled not just the ball but the pace of the game, and pushed hard and wide, breaking on the wings frequently and with relative ease.
2. Cirio’s Constant Attack
Sergio Cirio was particularly instrumental in United’s advances forward, constantly threatening the Glory defence from the left wing. United’s attacking game and complete control translating onto the scoresheet felt inevitable. The breakthrough came when Marcelo Carrusca picked Scott Jamieson’s pocket on the right wing, fed a lovely ball across to Cirio who was running into all kinds of space on the far side, before slotting the ball into the bottom corner. Cirio wasn’t done giving the Glory defenders grey hairs either. He then received a cross from Ferreira but couldn’t quite finish, set up Carrusca for a backpedalling rocket which was just kept out, was just wide from outside box at 78 minutes, and threatened again at 82 minutes with a break into the goal square. The Spaniard was absolutely everywhere yesterday, and had a hand in endless United attacks.
3. Physical Clashes
It was a physical contest which featured several hard hitting plays, headlined by Scott Jamieson bringing down a furious Fabio Ferreira, and Eugene Galekovic taking a strong hit from Perth’s Richard Garcia.Both Galekovic and Garcia were sprinting towards a threatening high ball before colliding, Galekovic coming off second best. The collision put the stunned crowd through several nervous minutes, before Galekovic eventually rose to his feet and appeared to be okay.
4. Mabil’s Injection of Energy
Awer Mabil was substituted into the match in the 61st minute, and was the life of the party just seven minutes later. Receiving the ball from Craig Goodwin in space on the left side, Mabil pushed forwards and switched to his right, slotting a clever low ball home, and jumping into the arms of Josep Gombau. Mabil continued his eventful outing by creating chances for his teammates, and at the 82 minute mark should’ve had his second goal, and Adelaide’s third. A Cirio shot rebounded off Glory keeper Danny Vukovic and fell to Mabil at point blank range, who sent the ball over the bar off his knee.
5. Impending Returns and Selection Headaches
With Bruce Djite and Cassio watching from the stands yesterday, both men are likely to return in the coming weeks, which would force Josep Gombau into more tough selection decisions. After an injury riddled pre season, the Reds boss will just be hoping his selection decisions are tricky due to having too many healthy players to choose from, rather than not enough.
