Two of Adelaide United’s match-winners, Eugene Galekovic and Bruce Djite, have both expressed relief after defeating the Pohang Steelers last night.
Two of Adelaide United-s match-winners, Eugene Galekovic and Bruce Djite, have both expressed relief after defeating the Pohang Steelers last night.
In a game that took until the final minutes to produce the one goal that would decide the outcome, Galekovic and Djite both told of the satisfying feeling of the Reds- victory over Pohang which has them now sitting atop of Group E.
After a heartbreaking loss in which a cruel error ultimately cost his side victory at the Steelyard in South Korea a fortnight ago, Galekovic seemed keen to make amends and did so in the most heroic of fashion.
With Pohang applying a heap of early pressure, the Reds- captain was forced to pull out all stops to make a miraculous save in the 11th minute. Then shortly after half-time he was called upon again to come to the rescue.
Galekovic continues to build an impressive reputation in the AFC Champions League and he was not about to let the memories from a fortnight ago faze him.
“Defensively we did well and the boys even created a few chances up front,” Galekovic said.
“I think it was a big difference to two weeks ago and full credit to the boys for that.”
Although playing a huge role in the victory, Galekovic believed it took a team effort across the board to secure a vital three points.
“Obviously it-s a team sport, so Bruce heads a goal, I keep a few out, defence does their job and the midfield runs all day,” Galekovic said.
“The boys were sensational.”
Now three points clear at the top of Group E, the Reds have a strong chance of advancing through to the Round of 16 and Galekovic wants to try and wrap up a spot sooner rather than later with two match days to go.
“Our next game is the most important because we don-t want to leave it up to the last match against Gamba away, so winning against Bunyodkor is our main priority,” Galekovic said.
Like Galekovic, Djite was delighted to take all three points and believes it was a fitting reward for the performance they put in.
“I felt it-s what we deserved and I was very excited for the team to secure the three points because we worked very hard for 90 minutes and to score in the 90th minute the way we did, it-s always very satisfying,” Djite said.
Playing a lone role up forward due to the absence through injury of fellow striker Sergio van Dijk, Djite converted a desperate cross from Cassio to ultimately give the home side victory.
But despite being on the end of the goal, Djite certainly was not taking all of the plaudits for the win at the club-s recovery session this morning.
“I wouldn-t say I-m the hero. If Eugene doesn-t pull off that save after about 10 minutes then we-re already 1-nil down and he saved us a couple of times as he always does,” Djite said.
“But it was a fantastic team effort.”
The Reds will host Bunyodkor at Hindmarsh Stadium on May 2. Tickets for the match are available through Ticketek.
