Tomi Juric produced his best performance of the season when Adelaide United needed it most after netting a first-half brace to catapult the Reds into the lead.
The Reds defeated Brisbane Roar 2-1 in Sunday’s Elimination Finals courtesy of their talisman, and a desperate defensive display.
The 29-year-old demonstrated his class and ruthlessness in front of goal with both finishes arriving in clinical fashion.
Juric netted his eighth and ninth goals of the campaign to overtake Craig Goodwin as the team’s top-scorer this year.
To open his account on the afternoon, the striker controlled Ryan Strain’s laser of a long ball on his chest before firing his effort into the bottom corner form the edge of the box.
“It’s just basically trying to be on the shoulder in those kind of situations,” Juric explained to Fox Sports after the match.
“They play with a back three and if you can get in between the centre-backs, you always give yourself a good chance to get into goal-scoring position.”
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For the second goal Juric exposed Roar captain Tom Aldred, knocking the ball past him from inside his own half and showing some pace to dribble the half of the pitch and place his shot inside Jamie Young’s near post.
“I just quickly looked around my shoulder,” he recalled when asked to elaborate his second finish.
“I saw he was a little bit further away from me but he was coming at me, so I backed myself. I know I’m pretty quick. It doesn’t look like it but felt in a good position to finish and score it.”
A Semi-final meeting with Sydney FC now awaits Carl Veart’s side.
“Everybody knows Sydney is the benchmark of the A-League,” he said.
“For how many (several) years they’ve done so well and they’re always at the top.
“They’re a tough side to break down, defensively they’re a really strong.
“They’ve got Bobo and (Kosta) Barbarouses up top. One’s a goal scorer and one’s really fast and they both cause problems, so it’s going to be a really tough battle for us.”
Match details:
Saturday, 19 June vs Sydney FC
A-League 2020/21 – Semi-final
Kick-off 6.35pm ACST
Venue: Netstrata Jubilee Stadium
Broadcast: Fox Sports
Stream: Kayo Sports, MyFootball Live App
