Adelaide third after late Jovanovic goal breaks Sydney FC hearts

Adelaide United have broken Sydney FC hearts at Allianz Stadium, with a late Luka Jovanovic goal the decisive moment in a 2-1 win for the Reds.

Jovanovic scored the winner in the 87th minute after an agonising mistake from Sydney goalkeeper Harrison Devenish-Meares who otherwise had an excellent game.

Adelaide stalwart Ryan Kitto had earlier drawn Adelaide level just a few minutes after Tiago Quintal had opened the scoring for the Sky Blues.

The result takes the Reds up to third on the Isuzu UTE A-League table, leapfrogging tonight’s vanquished foes Sydney FC who still have a game in hand.

Jovanovic’s goal was a sickener for Sydney FC who were the stronger side over the course of the game, but couldn’t fashion the killer blow despite an enormous amount of possession and a raft of chances.

The grim irony for the Sky Blues is that Devenish-Meares was one of their best players in the game before Jovanovic’s tired, deflected effort bounced off his hands and into the net.

Devenish-Meares’s mistake takes nothing away from the quality of the goal though, with Brody Burkitt’s ball to Jovanovic inviting him into space to create the chance.

Earlier, Quintal opened the scoring in the 14th minute after Paul Okon-Engstler pounced on an errant attempted clearance from Adelaide keeper Joshua Smits and slalomed into space on the edge of the area.

Ryan White pinched the ball off the young Socceroo’s toes, but it fell to Quintal who took a touch and slid the ball under the Reds custodian.

Adelaide hit back in just over three minutes, with Jay Barnett’s whipped ball being met at the penalty spot by the Reds veteran full back Kitto to restore parity.

View this post on Instagram

The Sky Blues upped the ante in response to the Reds’ equaliser, with Ben Garuccio cracking a shot from distance into Smits’s bread basket a few minutes later and Lolley also having a chance just after the half hour mark.

Sydney nearly went ahead again in the 43rd break when Garrucio — whose dead ball delivery in particular was a highlight — put in a good corner that led to Marcel Tisserand crashing a hefty header off the crossbar.

The Sky Blues picked up the second half where they left off, with Quintal picking up a ball from Lolley and firing a shot across Adelaide’s bows and straight at the waiting Smits.

Lolley was involved again in the 54th minute, with his ball across the face of goal leading to Sydney stalwart Rhyan Grant missing from point blank at the near post.

The anticipation for the Sydney FC debuts of fresh signings Apostolos Stamatelopoulos and Ahmet Arslan was high all night, and Ufuk Talay chose the 60th minute to unleash his new players.

Both players had an immediate impact on the game, with Stamatelopoulos flashing a header just over the bar with his first touch and Arslan having a crack from distance that Smits had to put behind.

While the substitutes looked to have wrestled the momentum to Sydney’s favour, the Reds sent reminders through first Jonny Yull and then Dukuly that forced Devenish-Meares into saves.

The signs that Sydney were start strain showed in the 79th minute when Yull found his way past the defence and was nearly dragged down by Grant, and that fatigue then told decisively in the 87th minute when Jovanovic scored the winner.

Make sure you subscribe to our YouTube channel so you never miss any moments, highlights, or shows!

To make matters worse for Sydney, Quintal limped off in the 80th minute after appearing to grab at his hamstring — whether it was simply cramp or something more sinister remains to be seen.

Sydney don’t have long to lick their wounds, with their next fixture on Tuesday night against Auckland FC at Leichhardt Oval.