Adelaide United coach Carl Veart has hailed the courage of his players to knock reigning A-League Men’s champions Melbourne City off their game in a 2-2 draw.
Adelaide scored twice in the last 15 minutes on Saturday night at Coopers Stadium.
“That spirit, to come back the way they did, was fantastic,” Veart said of his players.
“If we went another four or five minutes, I reckon we would have got a winner.”
Adelaide were on the proverbial ropes after star City duo Jamie Maclaren and Andrew Nabbout scored.
The pair combined with the dynamic Mathew Leckie as City’s much-vaunted attacking frontline fired.
“You have got three Socceroos in your front three, playing in the A-League,” Veart said.
“It’s fantastic for the supporters and the neutral supporters to come and see those three players because they are top quality players.
“That second goal that Nabbout scored, that is a world-class goal.”
Nabbout’s stunning strike from outside the area – curling into the net with the outside of his right boot – put City 2-0 up in the 61st minute.
But Veart thought that scoreline was somewhat unfair to his charges, noting how United had upset City’s usual style.
“Our pressing was excellent,” he said.
“Melbourne City are normally a side that passes the ball a lot out of defence and they played a lot of long balls.
“They didn’t really do their normal build-up play that they are well known for.
“So that is a credit to our boys with their pressing, they forced them to go a lot more direct than what they normally would.”
