It’s a race towards the top six as The Sky Blues and The Reds go head-head-head at Hindmarsh Stadium!
It’s a race towards the top six as The Sky Blues and The Reds go head-head-head at Hindmarsh Stadium!
The season is very much alive for Adelaide United! Four points separate The Reds from the top six, and with half-a-dozen games remaining, all it needs is a good run of results for the team to catapult themselves into a finals position! So show your support by getting along to Hindmarsh Stadium on Sunday afternoon and helping your team make it two wins on the spin.
United go into this game brimming with confidence after passing a tough test last weekend.
In a basement battle against Gold Coast United, they came from behind to steal a 2-1 win which pretty much consigned the Queenslanders to the wooden spoon.
In torrential rain, it looked like being a miserable day for the Reds when Nigel Boogaard put through his own net to give the hosts an early lead, but strikes from Bruce Djite and Dario Vidosic turned the game on its head and not only put breathing space between themselves and the league’s bottom club but also ensured that Adelaide’s loyal army of fans are studying the ladder very differently this week.
Now, rather than nervously looking at the bottom of the league, they are eyeing off sixth spot. Can they still sneak in? Victory against seventh-placed Sydney FC on Sunday would do their chances no harm whatsoever.
However, The Sky Blues will go into this game in South Australia with renewed spirit after an impressive win over in-form Perth Glory last weekend. Stand-in skipper Brett Emerton was the key figure in the win, scoring the first with a bullet-like drive early in the second-half, before neatly crossing for Bruno Cazarine to head home the decisive second from close range in the 72nd minute.
A late Perth goal meant a nervous few minutes for The Cove, but their side held on for an important win which keeps them on the cusp of the finals places.
United will be looking for their first win against Sydney FC in the 2011/12 season.
When the sides previously met at Hindmarsh Stadium, the Sky Blues came from behind to snatch a 2-1 win. After Dario Vidosic had given Adelaide a first-half lead, goals from Jamie Coyne and Nick Carle were enough to send the points back to New South Wales.
However, The Reds will take much more encouragement from the game at SFS, where they held on for a courageous draw, despite being reduced to ten men, in a belter of a match which saw four goals, two penalties, a red card and eight yellows. It was a game which perfectly summed up the drama, passion and excitement of the Hyundai A-League.
This final meeting between the two clubs this season is the most crucial of all. A win for Sydney would all but end Adelaide’s finals hopes, but three points for The Reds would blow things wide open. Be there to support your side in this massive battle for the win! It’s going to be epic!
