Adelaide United boosted their bid for Elimination Final hosting rights as George Blackwood’s towering late header sealed an attritional 1-0 win over Melbourne Victory on Friday night.
Blackwood nodded in Isaias’ cross in the 81st minute to snatch a battling three points that puts Marco Kurz’s men on the cusp of a return to Coopers Stadium in the first week of the Finals Series.
Opportunities were otherwise rare in a tight contest which leaves Victory resigned to a third-place finish behind Sydney FC.
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Victory lost James Troisi to a hamstring problem after the 30-minute mark and struggled to find any fluidity going forward until deep into the first half.
Terry Antonis, on in place of the injured Troisi, drove a deflected shot narrowly past the right post, before Ola Toivonen curled a first-time effort around the same upright.
The Swedish striker began to threaten more regularly after the interval, but the deadlock remained unbroken as the clock ticked beyond the hour.
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James Donachie eventually had the ball in the net from Keisuke Honda’s corner, only for the goal to be disallowed due to a foul elsewhere in the penalty area.
That left the headlines up for grabs and striker Blackwood rose to the occasion, climbing high to head in his captain’s right-sided cross.
Adelaide, having secured successive wins over the old enemy for the first time since 2013/13, are now four points clear of fifth-placed Wellington Phoenix, who host Melbourne City on Sunday.
Recap all the action as it unfolded in the live blog below!
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