Gold Coast United has continued its unbeaten start to the Hyundai A-League season with a hard-fought 2-0 victory over Adelaide United at Hindmarsh Stadium on Friday.
The Coast hit the lead at the 12th minute through an opportunist goal to in-form striker Shane Smeltz and all but secured the three points when Steven Fitzsimmons finished off a set play five minutes into the second half.
Down and out after the second goal, a previously sluggish Adelaide sprung to life with the home side generating some genuine chances in attack.
But the damage had been done in a dominant opening 50 minutes by the visitors.
Gold Coast will remain commanding leaders of the competition but has faced its first real test for the year.
A spritely run down the right side by Fitzsimmons set up the Smeltz goal. The midfielder turned Scott Jamieson inside out and centred the ball to Steve Pantelidis.
Pandelidis’ attempt was stopped by a diving Eugene Galekovic but the goalkeeper couldn’t control the save and Smeltz swooped on the ball and scored from close range.
It was the former Wellington Phoenix player’s sixth goal for the season.
Adam Hughes had a tough scoring opportunity in the second half but it was soon forgotten when Fitzsimmons chimed in with his team’s second goal at the 50th minute.
Jason Culina’s corner was headed over the top of the Reds’ defenders and toe-poked into the back of the net by a jubilant Fitzsimmons.
Earlier, Adelaide had made a bright start to the contest and controlled the ball for the opening 10 minutes. But the goal against the tide immediately changed the mood of the contest with the Gold Coast taking control.
They earned three corners in as many minutes to increase the pressure on the Reds and had a number of opportunities to increase their lead during the half.
A Jason Culina free kick at the 27th minute wasn’t cleared by Adelaide and caused some anxious moments for Galekovic while the Qantas Socceroo had his own opportunity to score after being released by a Smeltz pass, but kicked the ball well over the crossbar.
Adelaide won four corners in the first half but couldn’t get good purchase on the ball when it arrived in the penalty box – an Iain Fyfe header, which ballooned above the goal, the best result from a set piece.
Even in general play the Reds struggled to have an impact. Their work in-close was at times sloppy while there were too many long kicks in hope as they pushed into their front third.
Gold Coast’s second goal early in the second half silenced the 12,741 crowd but sparked a surge from Adelaide.
At the 59th minute recruit Lloyd Owusu replaced Daniel Mullen on the pitch and had an immediate impact.
He got his head to a Scott Jamieson ball and sparked a frantic few seconds as Adelaide tried to hammer the ball across the line although the Coast eventually cleared it.
Adam Hughes also had a couple of golden opportunities to put his name on the scoreboard – at the 76th minute, the unattended midfielder drilled the ball directly at goalkeeper Scott Higgins and in the 87th he couldn’t make the most of the space created by an Owusu fake take.
In turn, Adelaide’s new-found attacking mindset created some rebounding opportunities for the visitors but the Reds contained the damage to two goals.
Adelaide United 0
Gold Coast United 2 (Smeltz 12, Fitzsimmons 50)
Crowd: 12,741 at Hindmarsh Stadium
