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Some would say that Marcin Budzinski should have been man of the match, but he should have been relieved to even score. The Polish marquee netted his first goal with the huge help of a deflection, and he couldn’t have missed the follow up after a helpless Daniel Margush had spilled his first attempt.
It’s not to say that Adelaide was outplayed in the first half. Apostolos Stamatelopoulos had nearly beaten Dean Bouzanis in a one on one after catching the City defence napping, and in addition to that, Daniel Adlung had almost scored with a long-range effort.
Melbourne City was generally outplayed in the second half, with Adelaide looking the more threatening after Benjamin Garuccio replaced the generally accurate passer Jordan O’Doherty, who had missed 50 per cent of his passes.
But promising youngster Ryan Strain had caught the Melbourne City defence napping by putting a perfect through ball to set up an out of position George Blackwood, who was, unfortunately for the Reds, denied by a fantastic reflex save from Bouzanis.
Generally, Melbourne City had been on the back foot but with the aid of a deflection and a spill, managed to lead 2-0.
Center-backs Michael Jakobsen and Bart Schenkeveld didn’t play the best of games and should count themselves lucky not to have conceded a goal.
You can marvel the long-range finishes from Dario Vidosic and Ross McCormack, but a poor pass from Mark Ochieng led to the fourth goal.
(AAP Image/Joe Castro)
Statistically, Adelaide had more of the possession, more passes, and more distribution.
You would also expect that, in winning 5-0, City would have dominated in the shooting department, but they actually only had six shots on target, compared to Adelaide’s four. Adelaide’s shooting was also been more accurate, nearly 15 per cent more so than City’s.
Next, Adelaide has a tricky away clash against the highflying Wellington Phoenix who are unbeaten in their last three games (but admittedly still sitting on the bottom of the ladder). They will be looking to get off the wooden spoon with a win over Adelaide.
The third-placed City have a home clash against the Newcastle Jets. It is a crucial game for them, and indeed the Jets.
I’m not defending Adelaide, but I wouldn’t be too optimistic if I were City either.
Marco Kurz, Adelaide United’s coach said it was his side’s worst game of the season so far, but the improvements seem obvious; replace Daniel Margush with Paul Izzo so he doesn’t spill anything, and either drop winger Ochieng or get him to improve his passing (a replacement seems more legitimate since Ryan Kitto is returning).
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