NRMA Insurance Western Sydney Wanderers remain in second spot after a controversial 1-0 loss to Adelaide United at Coopers Stadium.
NRMA Insurance Western Sydney Wanderers remain in second spot after a controversial 1-0 loss to Adelaide United at Coopers Stadium.
Marcelo Carrusca’s fortuitous fourth-minute goal gave the Reds the lead and despite the Wanderers having their chances, it was a lead they kept.
The Wanderers, playing their third game in eight days, endured an absolute nightmare of a start.
Carrusca, making his return from injury, pounced on the back of a goal-line scrimmage, threading a sharp goal from a tight angle after Bruce Djite had stolen the ball out of diving Western Sydney goalkeeper Ante Covic’s hands.
Television replays showed the Wanderers were desperately unlucky, the ball out of bounds directly before Carrusca’s strike.
The shell-shocked Wanderers settled and almost equalised when a sliding Labinot Haliti came agonisingly close to getting on the end of an expert Shinji Ono pass.
The Wanderers captured the impetus late in the half and almost levelled proceedings in the most spectacular fashion when the classy Ono leapt for a bicycle kick, his reverse effort landing on the roof of the net.
Western Sydney worried United but the home side’s defence was up to the task, repelling numerous attacks to maintain their 1-0 lead at half-time.
While keeping the pressure on during the second half and creating a number of chances with Ono and Santalab in particular coming close, it wasn-t to be as the match ended in Adelaide-s favour.
Adelaide United 1 (Carrusca 4)
NRMA Insurance Western Sydney Wanderers 0
Crowd: 11,356 at Coopers Stadium
Image Credit: George Suresh
