Dario Vidosic scored again and Sergio van Dijk found the back of the net but it wasn’t enough to prevent Adelaide United FC from going down 4-2 to Melbourne Victory in Launceston tonight.
Dario Vidosic scored again and Sergio van Dijk found the back of the net but it wasn-t enough to prevent Adelaide United FC from going down 4-2 to Melbourne Victory in Launceston tonight.
Without captain Eugene Galekovic, experienced duo Zenon Caravella and Iain Fyfe, or Argentinean Marcelo Carrusca, the Reds battled manfully but in the end were made to pay for a couple of defensive errors and some clinical Melbourne finishing.
While the result may not have been in the Reds- favour, there were still a number of positives to take out of the contest, arguably none more so than new signing Jeronimo Morales Neumann having his first run in an Adelaide United shirt.
On the day prior to the game, Coach John Kosmina stated the club was still awaiting some final paperwork for Jeronimo-s visa in order for him to be eligible to play. However, the paperwork came through just hours prior to the squad departing for Tasmania.
The Reds started the match promisingly as Bruce Djite hit the post with a shot after just three minutes, but within the next half an hour they suddenly found themselves behind 3-0.
An ill directed back pass intended for Paul Izzo opened the door for Danny Allsopp to score before Archie Thompson eventually made the most of a miscued clearance from the Reds- keeper to double the advantage minutes later.
The Reds were forced to make an early change in the 25th minute as Jake Barker-Daish replaced Osama Malik, who suffered a heavy knock to the ribs.
The pain then continued for the Reds on the scoreboard as Thompson netted his second from a corner.
Vidosic restored some respectability on the stroke of half time as he beat Tando Velaphi with a shot from outside the penalty area to continue his run of scoring in each of the Reds- pre season games so far.
Kosmina rang the changes at half time, bringing on John Hall on Izzo, Antony Golec for Cassio and van Dijk for Djite.
Midway through the half Fabio Ferreira also came on in place of Evan Kostopoulos as Kosmina continued to give players some valuable time on the pitch.
On the other side, Victory playmaker Marcos Flores was introduced just after the hour mark for his first game against his former club.
Van Dijk tried his best to bring the Reds back into the game as he hit the post with a shot from 25 metres, before Iain Ramsay made way for Jeronimo to come on.
Melbourne Guilherme Finkler added a fourth to again extend the deficit, Jeronimo keeping Velaphi on his toes at the other end as he forced a save from the Victory keeper in what is an encouraging sign of exciting times to come this season.
A hard working van Dijk scored a late consolation goal to make the final score 4-2. The Reds- next pre season match is against Sydney FC in Sydney on September 1.
Match Details
Melbourne Victory 4
Adelaide United FC 2
Crowd: 3,147 @ Aurora Stadium
