Sydney FC has continued its perfect start to the season securing a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Adelaide United in a high-quality fixture at the Sydney Football Stadium on Sunday.
Both sides created their fair share of chances in a highly competitive opening stanza but neither was able to find the back of the net as both defences held firm.
It took a moment of brilliance from Sydney substitute Mark Bridge to break the deadlock in the 77th minute, to the delight of the parochial crowd of 14,924.
Bridge, who replaced skipper Steve Corica in the 66th minute, found Alex Brosque on the edge of the box who delivered a deft flick toward goal for the former Newcastle Jet to unleash a powerful left-foot strike and secure a valuable three points.
The Reds bravely fought on in search of a point but the hosts held firm to move to second spot behind Gold Coast United at the completion of Round 2.
Delighted Sydney FC coach Vitezslav Lavicka praised the efforts of his entire squad.
“During the first half we had activity but we lost about 30 minutes and we were under pressure and during the second half we stayed patient and reinforced the activity,” he said.
“I have to say it was a team success. All players gave more than 100 percent tonight.”
Adelaide mentor Aurelio Vidmar conceded his side faded badly after a competitive opening stanza.
“I thought the first half was quite good in terms of both teams were really well structured and it was a bit of an arm-wrestle but certainly in that second half we fell to pieces really,” he said.
“We just gave the ball away too easily, the goal came out of giving the ball away and they started to get a fair bit of momentum and it was very hard to stop.”
After a tense opening from both teams the hosts fired the first shot on goal 11 minutes in when Eugene Galekovic was forced to defuse a John Aloisi header.
Sydney continued to ask questions of the Adelaide defence and looked certain to score seven minutes later when Aloisi delivered a clever back-heel flick to Corica to unleash a powerful strike which was brilliantly saved by Galekovic.
The Reds’ first chance arrived in the 20th minute but Robbie Cornthwaite was unable to control his header having won the race to a dangerous corner kick.
Lucas Pantelis was a constant threat down the left flank, forcing Terry McFlynn to defuse a dangerous cross in a nervous moment for coach Vitezslav Lavicka.
Sydney’s appeals for a penalty on 28 minutes went unnoticed by referee Matthew Breeze and the hosts were almost caught out seconds later when Clint Bolton was forced to produce a quality save to deny Alemao from close range.
Cornthwaite again threatened on the half-hour finding the side netting with another aerial effort before momentum swung back in the Sky Blues’ favour with Brosque and Kofi Danning both coming close before the interval.
The Reds fired the first shot at the resumption when Alemao and Cristiano combined forcing Bolton to produce a diving save.
The arm-wrestle continued but it was the hosts who continued to create more chances with both Brosque and Simon Colosimo denied by Galekovic before Karol Kisel narrowly missed the target with a dangerous free-kick on 70 minutes.
Momentum stayed with the hosts who claimed a well-deserved win with Bridge’s 77th minute strike.
Sydney FC 1 (Bridge 77)
Adelaide United 0
Crowd: 14,924 at the Sydney Football Stadium
