Adelaide United v Melbourne City – Friday 4 April 2014
This season we will be looking ahead to the Reds’ Hyundai A-League matches by rolling back the clock and revisiting some of the club’s most memorable clashes against our upcoming opponents.
We turn our attention this week to a match against Melbourne City (formely Heart) from Round 26 of the 2013/14 season. The rounds prior to the match saw United undefeated in their last three games and City without a win in four.
And almost as soon as the whistle blew to start the game, United were a goal up, as Marcelo Carrusca scored the A-League’s fifth-fastest goal in history. The Argentine calmly slotted the ball into the back of the net after 25 seconds when a neat cutback by Tarek Elrich landed in Carrusca’s path.
United’s lead would last until the 33rd minute when David Williams converted from the penalty spot, after Tarek Elrich fouled young South Australian, Stefan Mauk.
A minute later and City were given a second penalty in somewhat contentious circumstances, which saw Elrich sent off and United captain, Eugene Galekovic, booked. But this time Galekovic wouldn’t be beaten – diving the correct way and beating Williams’ effort away from goal.
With the Reds down to 10-men and emotions running high, the visitors hit the front in the 42nd minute through Mate Dugandzic. By this point, tempers had started to flare and by the end of the match a total of 11 yellow cards would be issued.
Yet Gombau’s men wouldn’t give in and piled the pressure on Melbourne in the second-half in search for an equaliser.
With time running out and desperation starting to kick for the Reds, as hopes of playing in the finals seemed to be slipping away completely, Fabio Ferreira was on hand to slide the ball home in the third minute of stoppage time to level the score at 2-2.
It came after some great pressure on the City midfield by Carrusca forced a turnover and caused him to win possession of the ball. The Argentine playmaker fed Awer Mabil on the left side of the 18-yard-box, who squared the ball across goal for Ferreira to finish.
The draw helped Adelaide finish 6th in the league and into the finals, although they did succumb to a 2-0 defeat the following round at the hands of Newcastle Jets. The Reds were unfortunately knocked-out of the finals in the first round, losing 1-0 against Central Coast Mariners, whilst Melbourne City finished the season in 10th position.
Match Details
Friday, 4 September 2014
Hyundai A-League 2006/07 Season – Round 26
Adelaide United FC 2 (Carrusca 1’, Ferreira 90+3’)
Melbourne City 2 (Williams 33’, Dugandzic 42’ )
Venue: Coopers Stadium
Crowd: 13,845
Adelaide United take on Melbourne City on Friday 31 October 2014, at AAMI Park in Round 4 of the Hyundai A-League 2014/15 season. Kick-off is at 7.10pm ACDT. To purchase tickets, click here.
