Luka Jovanovic scored twice as Adelaide United came from behind to beat Western Sydney Wanderers 4-2 at CommBank Stadium.
Western Sydney got off to a flyer and opened the scoring through Alex Gersbach, but goals from Luka Jovanovic and Juan Muñiz gave the visitors the lead before the break. The Wanderers equalised in style through Angus Thurgate, but a second from Jovanovic and another from Panagiotis Kikianis sealed an erratic win for Adelaide United.
The win takes Adelaide to third on the Isuzu UTE A-League ladder and they will face first and second place in their next two matches. Western Sydney remain at the foot of the table.
Adelaide had hardly completed a pass when the hosts took the lead after eight minutes. Ryan Fraser popped up in midfield and slid the ball through for Dylan Scicluna, who fizzed his pass across the penalty area and into the path of Alex Gersbach. His connection was poor but it wrong-footed Joshua Smits and beat the desperate scramble of Bart Vriends.
The visitors responded well and forced Lawrence Thomas into a flurry of fine saves. Jonny Yull brought the travelling fans to their feet when his dipping volley stayed just too high and cleared the crossbar.
But after 20 minutes – perfectly in-line with the recent habits of both sides – Adelaide got their equaliser. Yaya Dukuly pressed forward on the right flank and his unthreatening cross was fumbled by Scicluna into the path of Luka Jovanovic, who swivelled inside the box and curled the ball into the bottom right.
As the clocked ticked into first-half stoppage time, Ethan Alagich pounced upon more Western Sydney looseness and when he curled a low cross in from the left, Juan Muñiz flicked it goalward and it bundled across the turf and beyond Lawrence to give the visitors the lead.
Thomas was busy again as the game got back underway – Jovanovic found Dukuly on the overlap and when he flashed his shot across the face, the Wanderers keeper got a vital touch to turn it wide of the far post.
The hosts looked to have clawed back a sudden equaliser when Steven Ugarković struck his volley into the ground and it lofted into the net, but VAR ruled that Jarrod Carluccio was obstructing the view of Smits from an offside position.
They didn’t have to wait long for the net to bulge again, when Anthony Pantazopoulos lofted the ball in behind to Angus Thurgate, who controlled it with his chest and volleyed brilliantly beyond Smits and this time the goal stood and brought the Wanderers level.
Adelaide again flaunted their ability to respond to conceding when Yull was found in space down the left, stood up his man and squared the ball to Jovanovic. The number nine showed his coolness inside the area as he sent Scicluna to the deck and despatched his ninth goal of the season beyond Thomas.
The visitors dealt the mortal blow when Luke Duzel floated in a wide free-kick and after Pantazopoulos failed to get it clear, Panagiotis Kikianis turned the ball in from point-blank range.
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS
WHAT THEY SAID
Airton Andrioli
Gary van Egmond
