Adelaide United has begun its 2009/10 Hyundai A-League season with a convincing 1-0 victory over Perth Glory at Hindmarsh Stadium on Friday.
United took the lead in the 31st minute through a Travis Dodd penalty and threatened to move further in front in an entertaining second half.
The Reds were jittery as they tried to protect their lead in the final minutes of the contest but deserved the three points against a Glory side which struggled to create scoring opportunities.
Shutdown jobs on Eugene Dadi, Mile Sterjovski and Adriano Pellegrino were critical to the result while Scott Jamieson’s work at set plays was outstanding.
Adelaide had threatened to score with its first few free kicks and the mounting pressure took its toll on Perth.
A Jamieson free kick wasn’t put away but Chris Coyne was penalised for tugging on Robbie Cornthwaite’s shirt in the box and the home side had earned a penalty.
Dodd took the shot from the spot and successfully guided the ball into the right hand corner of the net.
Adelaide was sharp from the opening whistle with the 13,847 crowd – a Round 1 record at Hindmarsh Stadium – getting involved from the second minute when Alemao was brought down in the box.
It was one of several promising attacking plays from the Reds.
The only negative for the home side was an injury to Lucas Pantelis although his substitute Michael Marrone was composed during his time on the pitch.
Perth struggled to get meaningful possession during the first half but had its own chances to strike. At the 11th minute Victor Sikora’s free kick was on target but stopped by Eugene Galekovic and closing in on half time a Chris Coyne header was just off target.
The Glory also suffered an injury during the first 45, with Jamie Coyne replaced by Todd Howarth, while Jacob Burns and Tando Velaphi were given yellow cards after the penalty was awarded.
There were further changes to personnel in the second half with a groggy Paul Reid replaced by schoolboy Joe Costa while Perth substitute Branko Jelic came on for Dadi.
The second change was the more significant as apart from a header over the crossbar in the 62nd minute, Dadi had struggled to have an impact.
In contrast Adelaide continued to attack and generated a number of nervous moments for their opponent.
It had a chance to go further in front early in the second half when Jamieson drilled yet another free kick into the teeth of goal while a couple of runs by Cristiano were promising but not fruitful.
Nothing was going right for a frustrated Perth and Victor Sikora became Glory player number three to earn a yellow for a tackle on Travis Dodd.
Some sloppy play by the Reds gave Glory some late chances – including a beautiful kick from Burns in the 88th minute- but they couldn’t find the equaliser.
Adelaide United 1 (Dodd 31 pen)
Perth Glory 0
Crowd: 13,847 at Hindmarsh Stadium
