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Adelaide United triump over Sydney FC 2-0

Roar Pro
22nd November, 2008
1

Sasa Ognenovski headed home his first goal for Adelaide United as they beat arch rival Sydney FC 2-0 at Hindmarsh Stadium to reclaim second spot on the A-League ladder.

The defensive strongman netted a pinpoint free kick from Brazilian Alemao seconds before halftime to cap a memorable 50th A-League appearance watched by 9,509 fans.

United captain Travis Dodd then made sure Adelaide snapped a four-match losing run, including the Asian Champions League final, by netting his sixth goal of the season in the 77th minute.

Acting as a lone striker in a re-fashioned Adelaide line-up, Dodd charged down a slow clearance from Sydney’s Beau Busch which flew into the net from eight metres out to embarrass the young defender.

Sydney’s task grew immensely after experienced midfielder Terry McFlynn was sent off controversially by referee Ben Williams in the 60th for a second caution whilst seemingly about to be replaced due to a leg injury.

Adelaide cashed in after weeks of looking fatigued by their amazing run to the final of the Asian Champions League.

Freshly re-signed coach Aurelio Vidmar opted to start Brazilian stars Cristiano and Cassio as reserves and dropped ex-Olyroo defender Robert Cornthwaite to revitalise his line-up, making four changes from the side that lost to Central Coast a week ago.

Sydney FC coach John Kosmina also rang the changes, finally starting Socceroo striker John Aloisi after a month on the bench and recalling Rob Middleby and Iain Fyfe.

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He dropped star striker Alex Brosque to the bench.

Adelaide looked sharper but Sydney’s Mark Bridge just failed to beat keeper Eugene Galekovic in the 23rd minute from close range after being released by Steve Corica.

But Alemao earned a free kick from Middleby on the right wing and his curling free kick to the far post was a massive invite Ognenovski couldn’t ignore.

Ognenovksi almost netted an own goal in the 51st minute but McFlynn’s dismissal put Adelaide on the front foot again.

And speedy Dodd picked off Busch’s tired clearance to ensure Sydney’s second straight loss.

Sydney keeper Ivan Necevski did produce the save of the night in the 82nd minute to deny a fierce Dodd drive.

Kosmina said Sydney FC may pursue appeal action over McFlynn’s straight red card, allegedly for dissent, whilst seeking help for an injured knee on the ground.

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“We’re going to pursue the matter because we think it was maybe a little bit harsh,” he said.

“We’re a bit disappointed that he wasn’t allowed medical treatment.

“He’s walking onto the (team) bus on crutches with cruciate ligament damage.”

Kosmina said Sydney FC would review the circumstances of the send off and McFlynn’s predicament in trying get treatment for what was a very serious injury, whilst on the ground.

However, Kosmina was buoyed by his side’s performance despite the loss.

“I thought it was the best 90 minutes we’ve played together for a few weeks,” he said.

“We dominated the first half. They got on top of us after the second goal.”

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Vidmar said getting back to basics at training had worked well.

“We had a pretty good debate among the coaching staff during the week about team direction,” he said.

“We realised some of the decision-making amongst the players in the past few weeks had not been the best so we addressed that with the changes tonight.”

Vidmar said he had needed to refresh the group a little and it had worked out well against Sydney.

“Now we’ve got two extremely critical games (against Newcastle and Wellington) before we go away (to the World Club Cup),” he said.

Dodd said scoring goals again and keeping the first clean sheets for weeks was a big step forward.

“The pressure was starting to build up on us,” he said.

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