A goal to Ben Halloran in the final minute of extra-time has handed Adelaide United a dramatic 1-0 Elimination Final win over Melbourne City on Sunday night.
A tense clash at a heaving Coopers Stadium looked destined for a penalty shootout as neither side was able to find a breakthrough for the first 118 minutes.
But Halloran had other ideas, getting on the end of a pass from Baba Diawara to slot past Eugene Galekovic and send the home fans into raptures.
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While City also had their moments, with keeper Paul Izzo making a couple of excellent saves, the Reds were worthy winners having hit the woodwork twice.
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The reward for Marco Kurz’s side is a Semi-Final against Premiers Perth Glory at HBF Park on Friday night.
It was a fairly tense and tight first-half with the best chance of the opening 45 minutes falling to Ben Halloran.
The speedy attacker was released by an inch-perfect pass from Craig Goodwin and blasted his shot past Galekovic only to be denied by the crossbar.
City defender Harrison Delbridge’s brilliant block denied Goodwin early in the second half before the visitors began to threaten.
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Florin Berenguer was inches away from finding the net with a poke from just inside the box, before a long-range rocket from Riley McGree was spectacularly saved by Izzo.
Galekovic had to scramble across his goal late on as Isaias’ free-kick curled just wide of the post in the last chance before extra-time.
Both sides went close to winning it in extra-time as only a world-class save from Izzo denied Shayon Harrison, before Ben Halloran’s low drive slipped through Galekovic’s hands and hit the post before rebounding back into the keeper’s arm.
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That was a let-off for City but they weren’t so lucky in the final minute of extra-time as Goodwin and Diawara combined to set up Halloran for the winner.
See all the goals and relive the entire day’s build-up and action in our LIVE BLOG below.
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