Their coach was banished but Adelaide United’s players bashed Melbourne Victory into submission in a rough-house 1-0 triumph in Friday night’s A-League match.
Adelaide’s Jeronimo Neumann scored the winner in a foul-tempered affair at Hindmarsh Stadium featuring six yellow cards and one red.
Snapping a three-game losing streak, Adelaide rose to within a point of the second-placed Victory on the ladder, adopting brutal tactics on their arch rivals who lost star striker Archie Thompson to injury.
The red-lining Reds copped five yellow cards in the initial 40 minutes, resulting in caretaker coach Michael Valkanis snapping at referees.
Volcanic Valkanis’ eruption resulted in him being sent from the sidelines, and Neumann scored as he was marching down the tunnel.
Neumann leapt high to meet Dario Vidosic’s sweet, sweeping cross from near the by-line, the Argentine crunching a close-range header into the net in the 42nd minute.
Adelaide celebrated wildly, suitable given their testy first-half mood in which they aggressively knocked the Victory off-course.
The Reds saved special force for their former teammate and now Melbourne playmaker Marcos Flores, who was fouled five times in the first half.
Adelaide’s savage tactics worked: the Victory failed to register a single shot at goal in an opening half marred by Thompson’s 35th minute departure with a cramped left hamstring and back spasms.
Ironically, it was Melbourne who went a player down when defender Adama Traore copped a straight red card for a late tackle on Jon McKain in the 75th minute.
The Victory had only recorded their first shot at goal some four minutes earlier when Marcos Rojas sprayed a speculative right-footer metres wide of the target.
Melbourne logged just three scoring attempts for the match, with just one on target.
Valkanis said his first win as coach since replacing John Kosmina two weeks ago was important for the club.
“We needed to have this win because we have been through quite a bit in the last couple of weeks,” Valkanis said.
“I really wanted the players to show that passion, that aggression, to win a game.”
Melbourne Victory coach Ange Postecoglou was pleased with his team’s composure in the face of Adelaide’s hostility.
“It was physical, when it’s like that it is pretty hard to get a decent flow in a game, it’s pretty disruptive, stop-start all the time,” he said.
“It makes it hard to get any flow or rhythm into it which, from our perspective, is the kind of football we want to play.”
Ian
Guest
see previous posts about MV fans complaining about how they lost the game. adelaide did seem to be whistled off the park. didn't they get a few yellows in the 1st half alone? and the coach sent to the grandstand? MV were outplayed. Coe did not cost you the game. Adelaide played better. start from scratch from next week. adelaide did not have to sit back and let MV have the type of game they want for a 'spectacle' and 'free flowing tika taka' from a member of a club that is not adelaide.
Roger
Guest
I for one, always find it interesting that fans of a team that won through thuggery (no other way to describe it), continually deny the thuggery, and claim some sort of tactical win. Almost anywhere else in the world, AU would have been whistled off the park.
Elly
Guest
This is my first time commenting on this site, so please forgive any breaches of etiquette. When I read about the $49 million being bet on that AUFC-MV clash (which AU won 4-2), I decided to go back and have a look at the betting trends myself. To my surprise, there seemed to be no unusual movement in the odds in the lead-up to the game. The odds did shorten on AUFC in the lead-up to the match, but only slightly. I would have expected $49 million to have at least some notable impact, but it appears not to have been the case. My personal guess (just a guess) is that the Asian punters put their money down on *both* sides of the match. For those interested in a look at the betting trends themselves, you might find http://www.oddsportal.com/soccer/australia/a-league-2012-2013/adelaide-utd-melbourne-v-1354148/ an interesting place to visit. As I said, to me, as a punter, it all looks above-board, with no major "plunges" in the odds. (You'll need to sign up to see the full figures, but it's free. Hope this doesn't look like spam).
Kasey
Guest
great summation Ian..we ADL fans are used to having any achievement poo-poohed..got to an ACLGF? Must have been incredibly lucky... Beat MBV at Hindmarsh??, where they haven't won since 2009..must have thugged their way to ithe 3 points. A halfway decent Football playing team would have just out-played an overly physical team, but no. MBV fans can never give credit where it is due..no credit that AUFC were mentally 'up' for a big rivalry game and came out breathing fire on Friday night...with better finishing, United could and should have won 2-0 or 3-0. One goal mouth scramble is my recollection of MBV's attempts on goal over 90 minutes. Remind me again which team going into Friday night had just lost 3 games on the trot?
j binnie
Guest
Fuss Get over it .You have proved your point about the game in Tasmania,and I thought I had explained that for ,if accuracy has to be maintained ,when comparing Victory's figures with the other EIGHT teams in the league (Heart excluded), a statistician could give you a very good argument as to why the "derby gates" should be excluded when doing an inter club comparison,for up till this season the 2 Melbourne clubs had a distinct advantage over the other single city/town teams in the league.But who is caring about advanced statistical arguments,so if my figures (a hobby) insult your intelligence,DON'T READ THEM. Your pal in our never ending battle to improve our game. jb ps Again, I hope Victory sell out every remaining home game and make mincemeat of my forecast to Dave. jb
CmonJETS
Guest
Anges presser was a sadistic pleasure. He clearly wasn't able to say his team were bossed off the ball and consequently out of the game. Adl sailed close to the wind, sure, but MV were bossed, note to Ange, no shots on goal is a statistic that is telling. You sound a little bit silly denying it and constantly repeating how good a shift your players put in. Not even your supporters believe this and it only serves to put joy into opposition supporters this kind of rubbish. It was a great tactical game won by the reds.
Roger
Guest
As a MV supporter, I can tell you right now that Andy Harper is by far the worst commentator
Brick Tamlin of the Pants Party
Guest
Was given the big bottle of bubbly at the end of the match for MOTM,not a bad start!
Brick Tamlin of the Pants Party
Guest
coolsportz stream2
Midfielder
Guest
Do you have a stream
Ian
Guest
so really MV fans are saying coe made a mistake and that lost them the game, not that Adelaide played better. how unusual. from a member of a different club to Adelaide
Brick Tamlin of the Pants Party
Guest
Looks very comfortable out there,set up Celtics first and came close to scoring himself sending one just over the bar from the edge of the box.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
No, jb .. you don't have to exclude the smallest home gate for MVFC. The smallest home attendance this year for MVFC was 16,676 against bottom-of-the-table Perth Glory. But, to include a regional game - played in Tasmania - as an MVFC home match is false & misleading. As an MVFC season ticket holder, I did not get entry to the match in Tasmania, because it was NOT an MVFC home game. Each A-League teams play 13 home matches. Today's WSW match in Campbelltown was an FFA regional match - it was not WSW's home game. WSW season ticket holders did NOT get entry to this match.
Titus
Guest
Be the boss in midfield Tom!
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
Middy Twitter Trendsmap for Glasgow has just Tweeted.. @TrendsGlasgow 'rogic' is now trending in #Glasgow http://trendsmap.com/gb/glasgow --- Looks like our wee A-League competition is spreading its wings.
j binnie
Guest
Hi Dave. Thanks for the reply.You will see I have been castigated for including the Tasmania game in the average I calculated and have been told my calculation and forecast was NONSENSE. Remember I said I always like to look at the bigger picture, but it seems I have to EXCLUDE the smallest gate(Tasmania) but it's OK to INCLUDE the two "derby" games, benefits that only the 2 Melbourne clubs have enjoyed up till this season. Ah,statistics???????? they can tell many many stories. Keep up the good work. By the way I don't think Coe has played all season has he? and considering by my calculation he has only conceded 21 goals in 16 games (1.3 per game) I don't see him as having cost Victory too many points.for if the forwards averaged 2 goals per game they would win more than they would lose. Simplistic ???? yes but just as sensible as saying a goalkeeper has cost lots of points over a series of games. Get my point?. Let's agree to disagree. jb
Brick Tamlin of the Pants Party
Guest
Boom Rogic gets his first assist for Celtic against inverness,absolute class build up to the goal.
Midfielder
Guest
Fuss Tommy first goal for the Celts youth team he scores around the 40 sec's ... lol at the caller.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=QDQtik5wypo
philk
Guest
Just a quiet word to Ange....there are more ways than one to skin a cat. The number of times Flores falls to the ground when he feels an opposing players breath on his neck is comical. And, just a word about Fox Sports two worst commentators Speed and Slater...I just turn down the sound. Note to Fox....get a few more informative commentators like Robbie Thomson and I'll keep paying my subscription.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
Off topic, but worth mentioning... Celtic FC - the 1st British team to win the European Cup - has just Tweeted the starting line-up for today's Top of the Table clash against Inverness CT @celticfc #Celtic: Forster; Fraser, Rogne, Gershon; McGeouch, McCourt, Kayal, Rogic, Commons; Stokes, Miku (LB) --- Best of luck, Tommy - let's "Do the Kangaroo Hop" for the kids in Thailand!