Wanderers fire a blank against Adelaide

Western Sydney’s rein as Hyundai A-League premiers is all but over after they were held to a goalless draw by Adelaide United at a soggy Pirtek Stadium.

Western Sydney’s rein as A-League premiers is all but over after they were held to a goalless draw by Adelaide United at a soggy Pirtek Stadium on Saturday night.

In a dour struggle in front of just under 12,000 fans, neither side were able to produce that bit of quality in attack to take all three points.

The result means the Wanderers have now gone three games without a win and they missed the chance to close the gap on league-leaders Brisbane.

The Roar maintain their 10-point advantage over Western Sydney and will wrap up the Premiers’ Plate if they beat the Melbourne Victory next weekend.

Perhaps the biggest talking point of the match surrounded Wanderers defender Adam D’Apuzzo who was lucky to stay on the pitch after avoiding a second booking for wiping out Fabio Ferreira.

D’Apuzzo, who had been yellow carded for an earlier tackle on Ferreira, collided with him again in an off-the-ball incident which forced the Reds winger off soon after with concussion.

Adelaide were good value for their point and may have got more if not for some wasteful finishing when their few clear-cut chances arose.

A severe Thunderstorm hit Parramatta just before kick-off, forcing the start of the match to be delayed by 30 minutes due to a waterlogged pitch.

And after the rain passed and ground staff helped clear the surface water, it was the visitors who adjusted quicker in the greasy conditions.

A clever move down the left involving Sergio Cirio and Marcelo Carrusca resulted in the Reds’ first chance after 10 minutes.

Carrusca delivered an inviting cross to the far post only for Ferreira to side-foot high and wide when he should have done better.

The Argentine play-maker did it all himself soon after, hitting a powerful shot from 30 metres out which had Wanderers ‘keeper Ante Covic beaten but went just the wrong side of the post.

The home side did plenty of probing to the well-organised Adelaide defence without really testing Eugene Galekovic in goal.

Their best chance come 10 minutes before the break when Adam D’Apuzzo’s cross found its way to Youssouf Hersi at the far post but he couldn’t divert his volley on target.

The second half followed a similar theme with both sides trying everything to unlock their opponents defence without much success.

A skewed clearance from Nikolai Topor-Stanley almost gifted Carrusca a goal but the classy playmaker fluffed his volley from just inside the box.

The Wanderers were being restricted to shots from outside the Reds’ box and Aaron Mooy and Brendon Santalab both tried their luck but Galekovic was never seriously threatened.

Returning striker Tomi Juric almost stole victory for the home side in stoppage time with a thunderous shot from distance which Galekovic did well to palm away to safety.

Western Sydney Wanderers 0
Adelaide United 0

Crowd: 11,892 @ Pirtek Stadium