Adelaide United has held Queensland Roar to a 1-1 draw at Suncorp Stadium in the Hyundai A-League – despite the home side dominating the second half.
The Roar, inspired by the half-time introduction of Reinaldo, created a myriad of chances in the final 45 minutes.
However, after a Charlie Miller goal cancelled out Travis Dodd’s eighth-minute penalty, Frank Farina’s men weren’t able to land the knockout blow and had to be content with a second 1-1 draw in as many weeks.
“It was always going to be a tough game. But I was pretty pleased with the way we played – both the first half and particularly in the second half,” Farina said afterwards.
“But, as I said to the boys just now, we’ve got to close those games out, particularly with the chances we had.”
Adelaide counterpart Aurelio Vidmar added: “We’re happy to get the point. It’s never easy coming here – since the A-League started we’ve always struggled here but have always seemed to pick up a point or so.”
“I thought the last half hour was the best part of our football tonight. We’ll take the point, get out of here and worry about what we’re doing next week.”
The Roar had got back on level terms only a minute into the second half, as Miller scored his second goal of the season off the back of some excellent set-up play from Sergio van Dijk.
The big Dutchman’s back-heel touch was exquisite and allowed Miller to surge into the box and slot home with his left-foot without breaking stride.
The goal sparked an impressive flurry from the Roar, as Reinaldo, van Dijk and an increasingly prominent Matt McKay strode forward with real purpose.
But the Adelaide defence dug deep, survived several nervous moments and found a way to keep their hosts at bay.
Aurelio Vidmar’s side could even have had an unlikely late winner of its own, but keeper Liam Reddy produced a brilliant point-blank save to deny Lucas Pantelis in stoppage time.
Earlier, Adelaide United had momentarily silenced the parochial home crowd with Dodd’s neatly taken penalty.
The Roar had most of the possession up to that point but Adelaide made the most of its first real foray forward.
Brazilian signing Cristiano skipped past two Roar defenders before being brought down Josh McCloughan and Dodd made no mistake from the spot – despite Reddy guessing correctly and diving to his right.
The visitors initially appeared the more likely side to add to the scoreboard and it wasn’t until the 22nd minute that the Roar had a shot on target, with Massimo Murdocca’s shot comfortably gathered by Eugene Galekovic.
But the Roar slowly worked their way into the contest. Murdocca’s next shot was clawed away by Galekovic and in the 43rd minute the Roar all but restored parity.
Tim Smits’ snuck in on the right, only to see his goal-bound shot brilliant saved by Galekovic, while Miller’s follow-up effort was deflected wide by a desperate Alemao.
Roar skipper Craig Moore was a surprise late inclusion for the home side, after his jarred knee survived the pre-game warm-up.
Queensland Roar 1 (Miller 47)
Adelaide United 1 (Dodd 8)
Crowd: 12,761 at Suncorp Stadium.
