A battle-ready Adelaide United defeated Central Coast Mariners 2-0 in a Hyundai A-League pre-season clash.
A battle-ready Adelaide United defeated Central Coast Mariners 2-0 in a Hyundai A-League pre-season clash.
With one eye on next week’s 2012 AFC Champions League quarter-final first-leg against Uzbek giants Bunyodkor, John Kosmina-s side are well ahead of their A-League rivals in terms of their pre-season perparation, as Cassio and Sergio van Dijk gave the Reds the win.
Central Coast midfielder Tom Rogic tested Eugene Galekovic twice during the first half, while Reds striker Bruce Djite didn’t go close enough to trouble Mat Ryan.
But it was new Aussie Cassio who broke the deadlock on the hour mark, cooly slotting home Kostopoulos’s cross to open the scoring.
And, after Josh Rose had his 88th minute header well saved by the busy Galekovic, van Dijk hammered home deep into stoppage time to add gloss to the scoreline.
Mariners Head Coach Arnold said the after match that he knew Adelaide would be a tough proposition.
“Adelaide United-s priority is next week, whereas ours is on October 6 against Western Sydney,” Arnold said.
“The game tonight was more about Adelaide and us trying to help prepare them for next week. It was played in good spirits and I think both teams got a lot out of the game.”
