Adelaide United have snapped their five-game winless run in the Hyundai A-League with a vital 1-0 win over a 10-man Central Coast Mariners on Sunday.
A brilliant volley from Reds skipper Isaias 10 minutes before the break was the difference to ease the pressure on Marco Kurz’s troops.
The Mariners were unable to build on their drought-breaking win last time out and a tough afternoon in Gosford was compounded 18 minutes from time when Jem Karacan was sent off for a second bookable offence.
While it wasn’t Adelaide’s most polished performance of the campaign, they will just be happy to get back in the winner’s circle after a tumultuous period of their season.
The win takes them above Melbourne City into fifth-place on the Hyundai A-League ladder and – most importantly – eight points clear of seventh-placed Newcastle Jets.
It was the Mariners who had the best chances of the first half, with Aiden O’Neill inches away from giving them the lead when his shot skimmed off the crossbar.
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But when the Reds needed something to spark them, their skipper delivered.
Mariners defender Jonathan Aspropotamitis only half-cleared a cross to the top of the box, with the Spaniard hitting a first-time volley that snuck through traffic to nestle in the bottom corner.
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Craig Goodwin wasted a glorious chance to double the Reds’ lead early in the second half when he shot straight at Ben Kennedy despite having acres of space in the Mariners box.
The home side tried everything to push for an equaliser but their hopes were dashed once Karacan saw red after a lunging challenge on Michael Jakobsen.
See all the goals and relive all the key moments and talking points in our LIVE BLOG below.
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