Adelaide United tackle Western Sydney Wanderers in the Semi-final of the Westfield FFA Cup at Campbelltown Stadium on Tuesday night.
With a spot in the Grand Final on the line against Sydney FC, here is a quick reminder of how the Reds and the Wanderers reached the last four of the cup competition.
Incidentally, it is also the first meeting between the two sides in the tournament.
Adelaide United
Marco Kurz’s men are yet to concede a goal in this season’s cup, in what has been a rather straight forward passage to the Semi-finals.
Round of 32 – 1-0 over Newcastle Jets
It was a tightly contested match at the Marden Sports Complex which Adelaide prevailed thanks to a Michael Marrone header off a Johan Absalonsen corner.
Round of 16 – 3-0 over Melbourne Victory
After a relatively cagey first-half of football, United’s intensity lifted following the re-start. Absalonsen rifled a shot from distance, arrowing into the far post, before George Blackwood doubled the hosts’ lead from the spot. Nathan Konstandopoulos completed the rampant second-half display courtesy of a stunning curling effort.
Quarter finals – 3-0 at Heidelberg United
Nikola Mileusnic wrote his name all over this fixture at Olympic Park in Melbourne. The winger became the first Red to bag a hat-trick in the Westfield FFA Cup and his goals punched Adelaide’s ticket to the Semi-finals.
Western Sydney Wanderers
Meanwhile, for Western Sydney qualifying for the last four has been a little bit more complicated and not without a scare.
Round of 32 – 1-0 (AET) over Wellington Phoenix
Spanish striker Oriol Riera broke the deadlock in virtually the last minute of extra-time against Wellington, preventing an imminent penalty shoot-out from occurring.
Round of 16 – 4-0 at Bentleigh Greens
The Wanderers eventually made light work of Bentleigh after two late goals from Steven Lustica and Mark Bridge flattered the scoreline for WSW. Robert Cornthwaite had earlier opened the scoring and Riera added a second after half-time.
Quarter finals – 2-2 (aet), 4-2 on pens at Blacktown City
Blacktown were minutes away from pulling off one of the biggest cup upsets. Riera scored from the spot inside three minutes, before James Andrew equalised in the second stanza to force extra-time. Andrew then put City ahead in extra-time but Riera duly responded. The ensuing penalty shoot-out saw the Wanderers show their composure to advance to the final four.
Adelaide United will face Western Sydney Wanderers in the Semi-finals of the 2017 Westfield FFA Cup on Tuesday, 24 October at Campbelltown Stadium. Kick-off is at 7.00pm ACDT.
