Stefan Mauk lamented Adelaide United’s second-half capitulation in its 4-0 loss against Macarthur FC on Friday night.
The Reds competed well for the opening 60 minutes of the clash before conceding in the 66th minute.
From there the match turned pear shaped as United were breached a further three times to suffer a third consecutive defeat.
“We were pretty good for 60 minutes,” Mauk told FOX Sports after the game.
“We had a game plan obviously to sit in and try and make them break us down and force balls and try and catch them on the counter.
“I think for 60 odd minutes we were doing really well and to concede from a corner after all that hard work just really isn’t good enough.
“And then we fell to pieces which has happened a couple of times and it’s not something that we should be delivering as players for ourselves but for our fans back home watching.”
Mauk believed Adelaide lost their way after half-time and absorbed too much pressure without offering a counterpunch and their resistance would finally be broken.
“I think we started to drop a bit deeper,” he explained.
“So then their possession was probably closer to our box and they were getting corners and free-kicks.
“And when you do that they’ve got good players and they’re going to punish us and we weren’t as effective on the ball either.”
Next match details:
Game date: Friday, 19 February vs Central Coast Mariners
A-League 2020/21 – Matchweek 09
Kick-off 6.35pm ACDT
Gates open 5.35pm ACDT
Venue: Coopers Stadium
Broadcast: Fox Sports
Stream: Kayo Sports, MyFootball Live App
