First half goals to Marcello Carrusca and Fabio Ferreira helped Adelaide United to a 2-0 victory over Central Coast Mariners at Coopers Stadium on Friday evening.
First half goals to Marcello Carrusca and Fabio Ferreira helped Adelaide United to a 2-0 victory over Central Coast Mariners at Coopers Stadium on Friday evening.
The win by Josep Gombau-s charges means the Reds rise to third on the Hyundai A-League ladder, while Phil Moss-s Mariners slip to fifth on goal difference after 19 of 27 regular season rounds of Australia-s top flight.
Despite the Reds enjoying much of the early possession, the Mariners had a chance to take the lead in the match just before the ten-minute mark. Young attacker Bernie Ibini found himself one-one-one with sometime Socceroo Eugene Galekovic, but pushed his shot over the bar.
Powerful Adelaide marksman Bruce Djite tried his luck from range 17 minutes into the contest, before skilful Argentine playmaker Carrusca found the net shortly after the half hour. Following some sloppy Mariners defending, Carrusca kept his calm to stroke his shot beyond Liam Reddy to give the Reds the lead.
The home side doubled their advantage just before the half time break when goalscorer Carrusca turned provider for Ferreira. The Portuguese attacker made the most of Carrusca-s neat layoff following swift transitional play, squeezing his shot on the angle through the legs of Reddy.
Soon after the break Ibini had another chance to score for the Mariners after he created a yard of space before unleashing a curling left foot strike at goal. Ibini-s effort was far better than his first of the night, however Galekovic proved up to the task as he dove to his right to deny the on loan Shanghai SIPG star.
Spaniard Sergio Cirio should have made it 3-0 for Adelaide in the 58th minute, however he blasted an effort from six yards over the bar. Later on, Reds substitute Michael Marrone dashed through the Mariners- backline, however his final effort was saved by Reddy.
And while the Mariners toiled and tried until the final whistle, opportunities involving Matt Simon, Nick Fitzgerald, Zac Anderson, and second half substitute Kim Seung-yong, couldn-t quite be converted as the clock wound down, ensuring the yellow and navy left the sodden Coopers Stadium surface pointless.
The loss to Adelaide was the Mariners- third in succession — an unwanted run that the Club hasn’t had since the Hyundai A-League 2009/10 campaign.
Central Coast will be out to return to the winners- list when Wellington Phoenix arrives in Gosford next Friday 21 February. However, the yellow and navy will have to take on Ernie Merrick-s outfit minus regular left back Joshua Rose and marksman Matt Simon — both players picked up their fifth yellow cards of the season against Adelaide and will subsequently be suspended for the clash with the men from the land of the long white cloud.
After the game, Central Coast Mariners boss Moss said: “No one wants to lose matches, let alone three in a row — it-s not something that we-re used to at the Mariners.”
“We have to accept that we are going through a tough spell (and) we have to fight. Myself and my staff will work around the clock to turn this around, and I know I have got a bunch of players with a lot of pride.”
“We-ve got to work hard to turn things around, but I am looking forward to what-s ahead.”
Moss said that his team must stop shipping cheap goals if it expects to match the league-s top sides as the race to the finals heats up.
“Two moments of sloppiness in the first half cost us two goals,” he said. “At this level if you don-t take your chances, you don-t win games (and) we gave them two sloppy goals.”
Adelaide United FC 2 (Carrusca 33-, Ferreira 45+1-)
Central Coast Mariners FC 0
Coopers Stadium, Adelaide
Central Coast Mariners FC: 12. Liam REDDY (Gk), 3. Joshua ROSE, 5. Zachary ANDERSON, 8. Nick MONTGOMERY (C), 11. Nick FITZGERALD, 15. Storm ROUX, 17. Anthony CACERES (7. John HUTCHINSON 80-), 19. Matt SIMON, 20. Bernie IBINI (9. Mitchell DUKE 70-), 21. Mile STERJOVSKI (26. Kim SEUNG-YONG 57-), 25. Eddy BOSNAR
Substitutes not used: 1. Justin PASFIELD (Gk), 4. Marcel SEIP
Yellow cards: Rose, Roux
Red cards: Nil
Adelaide United FC: 1. Eugene GALEKOVIC (Gk), 3. Nigel BOOGAARD, 4. Jonathan MCKAIN, 5. Osama MALIK, 8. ISAIAS, 9. Sergio CIRIO, 10. Marcelo CARRUSCA (2. Michael MARRONE 80-), 11. Bruce DJITE 14. Cameron WATSON, 18. Michael ZULLO, 22. Fabio FERREIRA (17. Awer MABIL 73-)
Substitutes not used: 20. Paul IZZO (Gk), 23. Jordan ELSEY
Yellow cards: Zullo, Ferreira
Red cards: Nil
Referee: Kris Griffiths-Jones
Attendance: 6,980
