Adelaide United turned on a master class performance in the second half against Wellington, banging in three goals in six minutes to crush the Phoenix 3-0 and create Hyundai A-League history, much to the delight of coach Rini Coolen.
The Dutchman admitted he was more than a little frustrated at the break with the Phoenix matching, and even outclassing United in patches during the opening half.
Some tweaking at the interval saw the rampant Reds extend their unbeaten run to a record 13 matches with Coolen more than satisfied with United’s stunning second half display.
Sergio van Dijk, Marcos Flores and Travis Dodd all got on the scoresheet with superb finishes.
“It’s a great performance when you win 3-0, especially if you look at the second half,” he said.
“We were not so happy with the first half we didn’t play the way we prefer to play. We had to change some things at half time.”
“We didn’t give anything away in the second half. We created a lot of chances and we scored a few terrific goals. We are totally happy with the way we played. It is a real good feeling to win 3-0 for a home game.”
The Reds haven’t lost in their opening 11 matches this season and, including the last two fixtures from the previous campaign, United are now unbeaten in 13 Hyundai A-League starts.
Adelaide last tasted defeat against the Phoenix in a 1-0 loss in Christchurch, three rounds out from the end of last season.
Coolen admitted the Hyundai A-League record hadn’t been a focus during the week but acknowledged it was a handy bonus after such a pleasing performance.
The Reds boss conceded the record is less significant for him personally, not having been involved in the two victories last campaign.
“We didn’t speak about that but we heard everybody talking about it,” he said.
“It’s nice if we win a game and at the end we break a record. But we were just focussed to win this game and to put ourselves in a good position for the game next week.”
“I wasn’t there the first two games so it doesn’t say so much for me personally. It’s real good for the club and real good for the players and of course you’re happy when you break a record.”
With the match finely poised shortly after half time, captain Dodd was brought on and interim captain Lucas Pantelis was moved to the left, his natural side.
Coolen admitted the introduction of Dodd swung the tie in United’s favour with the speedster causing plenty of problems for the Phoenix defence before nailing United’s third goal.
Dodd limped off in injury time with Coolen speculating the early prognosis means he will miss next week.
“In the second half we waited to bring in Travis who is a dangerous player, quick on the right wing,” he said.
“I decided not to do it directly after the break, but to wait a few minutes. So I think that moment the substitution, and how we played directly after the break that changed the game.”
“We have to find out what it is. He had an Achilles problem last year and I think it might be the same like that, so we have to see how it goes for him the next couple of days. But, probably he won’t be there next game, that’s what I think personally.”
