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Western Sydney have thwarted Adelaide United’s chances of securing a coveted top-two A-League spot, upsetting the 10-man Reds 2-1 at Parramatta Stadium on Saturday.
Fittingly it was Mark Bridge who scored the 73rd-minute winner in a game that saw him become just the ninth A-League player to make 200 appearances.
>>>Relive all the action in our live blog.
Reds defender Nigel Boogaard however, reached a milestone of another kind becoming the most sent-off player in the history of the competition, overtaking Kevin Muscat with his sixth dismissal.
His sending off forced Adelaide to play out the last 30 minutes with 10 men and gifted the Wanderers a penalty which Tomi Juric slotted home to cancel out Sergio Cirio’s opening strike.
The result lifts the Wanderers off the bottom of the ladder with one round remaining while the Reds can finish no higher than third spot.
While Adelaide dominated possession they were clearly lacking the creative flair injured Argentine playmaker Marcelo Carrusca (quad) provides and will be desperately hoping he returns for the finals.
There was not a single shot on target until the 20th minute when Osama Malik caused a goal-mouth scramble with his strike, Wanderers midfielder Mateo Poljak doing well to clear it off the line.
Isaias tried his luck from long range in the 34th minute but it proved light work for Wanderers goalkeeper Ante Covic.
Covic was called into action five minutes later to diffuse a shot from Reds striker Bruce Djite from point-blank range.
But Cirio broke the deadlock just before halftime after Tarek Elrich played the ball back to the Spaniard who beat Covic with a classy finish.
Bridge had the Wanderers’ first shot on target in the 54th minute, drawing a save from Eugene Galekovic as both sides raised the tempo after the break.
The game took a dramatic turn in the 62nd minute when Boogaard was dismissed for bringing down Bridge in the box.
After going down 2-1, the Reds had one last-ditch attempt to equalise with Miguel Palanca testing Covic with an acrobatic bicycle kick.
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