Adelaide United suffered a deflating 0-5 loss against Perth Glory at Coopers Stadium on Friday night.
A Diego Castro brace, as well as strikes from Adam Taggart and Andy Keogh consigned the Reds to their heaviest loss of the season.
There were three changes from the previous outing with John Hall and George Mells replacing Eugene Galekovic (injured) and Isaias (suspended), while Marcelo Carrusca returned the midfield forcing a reshuffle.
Despite Adelaide’s promising attacking play, they would fall behind in the opening quarter of an hour when La Rocca headed into his own net from a Josh Risdon cross.
The Reds then went on the front foot desperate to find the equaliser, and the hosts nearly found one after Dylan McGowan rose highest to see his header creep over the bar.
It would then become 0-2 when Castro cut inside on the angle to nonchalantly finish into the bottom right corner.
A minute later, United had their best chance of the half, as Riley McGree picked out Carrusca on the edge of the area. The Argentine received the ball before firing a curling effort which agonisingly struck the upright.
On the stroke of half-time a delicately threaded through ball by Castro for Keogh saw the striker clinically dispatch his one-on-one to make it three.
After the re-start any optimism harboured of an unlikely comeback were immediately dashed as Taggart pounced on Adelaide’s inability to clear their lines.
Ben Garuccio, McGree and substitute Nikola Mileusnic were lively during the second-half, but had nothing to show for their endeavours.
Castro had the final say for the visitors with his second of the night when he tapped home Aryn Williams’ low cross.
Gloveman John Hall, in his first start for the campaign, made a couple of smart saves in the final stages of the game to prevent the lead from growing any further.
Following the match, Head Coach, Guillermo Amor stated he was “sorry” to the supporters during this difficult period.
“The message for the supporters is that it’s not a good moment,” Amor said.
“We gave everything, we tried and worked… But the message is that the players want to win.
“But we’re sorry for the situation and sorry for the result.
“I don’t like the situation, neither do the players, the coaches and of course the supporters.”
Match details:
Friday, 10 February 2017
Hyundai A-League Round 19
Adelaide United 0
Perth Glory 5 (La Rocca (OG) 15’ Castro 37’ Keogh 45+1’ Taggart 46’ Castro 88’)
Venue: Coopers Stadium
Attendance: 6,006
