Star striker Sergio van Dijk is confident Adelaide United’s goal scoring drought is nearing an end despite the club failing to score in its past three AFC Champions League matches.
The Reds face K-League champion Jeonbuk Motors in a knockout clash next Wednesday at Hindmarsh Stadium desperately seeking a goal after 278 scoreless minutes.
Adelaide went through to the round of 16 as the highest-ranked team from Group H after finishing top of the group.
“Attacking wise, especially in goal scoring, we need to bring more,” said van Dijk, who remains unfazed by the lack of goals in recent matches.
“Don’t forget we’re playing AFC Champions League and not A-League, you definitely get fewer chances, but still if we want to compete and get into the final, which is what we’re in it for, we have to improve.”
Of United’s drought, two of the club’s last three games were away from home, while the final group match against Shandong at Hindmarsh saw the home side create more chances, but just unable to finish them off.
Adelaide opened this season’s campaign with three consecutive victories but Van Dijk said the early success was not to blame for heaping extra pressure on the team.
“If you’re doing well … people are expecting even more, but that’s alright because I’d rather have that than people saying the opposite,” he said.
Entering the AFC Champions League on the back of scoring a total of 25 goals in the past two Hyundai A-League seasons with Brisbane Roar, Van Dijk’s solitary goal of the competition to date came in China against Shandong Luneng back on March 10.
One goal from six games might not look that impressive to a striker, but van Dijk is not concerned, as he knows Asia’s prestigious club competition is a different proposition from the A-League.
“As a striker I really want to score, but this is a different ball game the Asian Champions League, and that I score 13 goals in the A-League doesn’t mean I’m going to score every week in the Champions League,” he said.
“As much as I want to (score), I just have to improve, get into scoring positions, and that’s something for me to work on.”
If scores are level at full-time on Wednesday, two 15-minute periods of extra-time will be played to decide the result. A penalty shootout will follow if the game is still deadlocked after extra-time.
