A 10-man Macarthur FC have scored twice in the final 10 minutes and goalkeeper Filip Kurto saved an added-time penalty to defeat Adelaide United 2-1 at Coopers Stadium.
Nestory Irankunda had given Adelaide the perfect start on Friday night with another stunning goal in the 20th minute and the Reds looked like they were in the box seat for victory when the visitors were reduced to 10 men on 72 minutes.
But Macarthur goals in the 84th and 88th looked to have snatched an unlikely victory, before another twist.
The hosts were awarded a penalty after VAR intervened and, in his final home game before joining Bayern Munich, Irankunda stepped up, but his effort was saved by the Bulls shot stopper.
“It showed the character of the boys and the togetherness that we have,” Macarthur coach Mile Sterjovski said after his side moved up to fourth on the ladder.
“I really felt like they were playing for each other tonight and it’s come at a very important time for us with a couple of games to go and secure that spot in the finals.”
Adelaide opened the scoring courtesy of another goal for Irankunda’s highlight reel.
Isaias won possession in midfield and found Stefan Mauk, who released Irankunda out wide on the right.
The teenage sensation charged towards the Macarthur goal before shifting the ball to his right foot and unleashing a missile from the corner of the 18-yard box.
On 42 minutes, Ethan Alagich fired a left-foot half volley from 22 metres which rattled the crossbar and in the 64th teammate Irankunda drove forward and cut across the edge of the area before slipping through Ryan Kitto.
The Adelaide skipper cut back for Mauk whose first-time effort forced Kurto into an excellent reflex save.
The Bulls had a glorious chance almost immediately after when Kearyn Baccus rose highest and headed goalwards a Clayton Lewis corner, but James Delianov swatted it away.
The visitors were reduced to 10 men on 72 minutes when Yianna Nicolau was shown a red card, upgraded by referee Ben Abraham, for a stray elbow which collected Irankunda in the face.
Despite the numerical disadvantage, Macarthur managed an equaliser after substitute Kristian Popovic crossed in from the left and Valerie Germain chested down for Ariath Pol to slam home.
And with just two minutes remaining, Daniel Da Silva recycled his own corner and lofted a cross to the back post where Tommy Smith nodded in unattended.
But there was further drama when the Reds were awarded a penalty for a Tomi Uskok handball and Kurto guessed the right way to save Irankunda’s spot kick.
“We stopped playing forward,” United coach Carl Veart said.
“Instead of trying to get that second goal we just went into protection mode and you can’t do that in football and the way we defended was not good enough.”
Redondo
Roar Rookie
Ha ha - I'll give up on Irankunda as well. He'll disappear if he opts for 2 of those and never play if he opts for the 3rd. So Spain is where I'll go, I think. They know how to develop youngsters.
Kitwally
Roar Rookie
Yes, the lack of football articles recently on the Roar is telling. And nothing today (so far) about an absolute cracker of a derby………
338
Roar Rookie
Wow. What a finish.
338
Roar Rookie
Poor from Thomas there. Thats the kind of chance Gomes needs to score.
338
Roar Rookie
If I was coaching wanderers Id be telling them to try a bit of kicking Sydney to upset the rhythm and put a bit of doubt in their minds when going for the ball. A few yellow cards following through with shoulders might be a small price to pay for getting a bit physical etc etc. All one way traffic otherwise. Probably a bit cynical, but Ive had a few wines in defence of myself. Antonsen has been pretty disappointing for an import. Plenty of chances missed. Gomes his usual also.
338
Roar Rookie
Jets have been the spoilers for a few teams with another win this time over the roar. I thought about going in to suncorp just to boo Cancar but couldn’t get sway. Looking forward to watching the Sydney derby after some weird error has prevented me watching all the other games on P+. They are working on sorting it out for me but I am grateful for FTA showing some A league. Another week of no commentary on this website….perhaps we’ve upset someone?
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
First I would like to see just one young prospect go to Europe and kick on.
Chris Lewis
Roar Guru
enjoyed wellington match and win. Good game. missed two goals by macarthur surfing various football code games.
Lionheart
Roar Rookie
I’m no sports psychologist but my advice to Nestory would be to cut the afters. He rides the emotional wave all the way, further and harder than any sportsman I’ve seen or can recall anyway. He’s doing triple tumbles when up, and hides in his shirt when he’s down. He needs to flatten the emotional curve. Get the name of Ash Barty’s sports psych, listen to her talk about her approach to her game, and where it all fits in her life. She won young Wimbledon at age 15 and rode an emotional roller coaster with every serve and return.
Lionheart
Roar Rookie
to Burundi? Tanzania? or Germany?
Lionheart
Roar Rookie
Macarthur just do this. They're ordinary, even Davilla for much of the time, but give them a sniff and they'll eat you up. I've watched Roar dominate them twice, at Suncorp and Ballymore, and both times they pounced on our mistakes to take the points. Good on them, they've got a great team spirit.
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
The interesting thing about the var reviews was Irakunda went studs up very early in the game and it could have well been a red compared to some decisions recently and he didnt even get a yellow and the commentators said nothing about it even being a yellow. The commentators and the ref are in sync somehow yet again. The referee all his hard work went down the drain because of Adelaide missing. Mauk thats always been his big issue shooting the only goal he has scored was after rounding the keeper and he had the pick of the chances. Halloran was underwhelming as the fresh sub. Macarthurs performance was more than a bit weird. They had periods of possesion ye just kept passing it back , Germain in particular , Bacchus and Lewis seemed in no hurry to get back to defend. De Silva came on and his movement in midfield let Macarthut get back into it. The last set of changes , some energetic players got rid of Bacchus and Lewis, more suprisingly Germain transformed from not being there to challenging for everything.
Redondo
Roar Rookie
Arnold should pick Irankunda in the Socceroos' squad for the June games and play him. Nothing better for mental health and self-esteem than affirmation. This guy is the best 18 year-old I've seen since Harry Kewell. If Irankunda slips through our fingers I'll emigrate.
Waz
Roar Rookie
Strangely enough I agree with that last comment
Grem
Roar Rookie
There are no givens in football. Penalties are missed by many (has Messi ever missed?). I’m sure he will now work on his penalty taking as we get the impression, from what we read, that he is a perfectionist on the field. It certainly meant a lot to him and that’s good to see – he will be better for it. He wasn’t in a good mood at full time. Lots of people were consoling him, so they know he needs some positive affirmations.
Grem
Roar Rookie
Macarthur are a funny team - so inconsistent. Inconsistent across matches and within them. They are a top 4 team at their best and wooden spooners at their worst. That was a crucial win without Davila, who deserved the two match suspension. I wasn’t sure that red card was going to be awarded last night, but after Mac’s soft red, it had to be given. I don’t think there was any intent behind last night’s strike to the head either, but it was worse and a precedent had been set. Tonight’s games will be interesting to who finishes where. Sydney are sitting on a knife’s edge even though they were 4th until Macarthur won last night. A loss tonight and they will be hitting panic stations as well - your Roar may still sneak in.
The Ball Bobbled
Roar Rookie
Well thats Adelaide for you (btw, whatever happened to Adelaide Andy?) I'm glad for Nestory's sake that he missed the penalty. Will do him good.
Waz
Roar Rookie
With 10 minutes to go I’m thinking MacArthur might not make finals this year, then boom boom snd it’s Adelaide that might not make it. Crazy stuff. But when a club leaves themselves needing to win all their remaining games and for other results to go their way, it’s asking too much (yes Roar, that includes you!). It was a great goal from Irankunda - he’s done enough recently to justify all the hype
Waz
Roar Rookie
This is turning in to an absolute sensational season for the football. Can the message to the APL please, please, PLEASE, be to let the football do the heavy lifting … Cut out the gimmicks & the short cuts & the crazy ideas Get the club owners to run “good clubs” and not micro-manage the competitions We don’t have to have a Sydney or Melbourne doing well for the competition to be successful (invariably one of them will be, but we don’t need it) Level the playing field: fair draw, same rules for everyone, let clubs live n die by what their football departments do, not what decisions some anonymous suits make that deliberately favour one team over another. Find a way to get and keep fans engaged - 7 Nation Army + Violinist … drink some of the Hindmarsh Kool-Aid … the Yellow Fever … but make fans want to be there. Stop trying to manufacture things: let the clubs, coaches, players, fans, breathe life in to the competition. This is a great season on the field. One of the best ever.
Grem
Roar Rookie
We always hear that was a game of 2 halves, well last night was a game of 8 eighths! For 7 eighths Adelaide dominated, but the last eighth was all Macarthur! Too many shots over the bar, a bit wide or not powerful enough by Adelaide as they could have wrapped that game up a lot earlier. As a neutral - a thoroughly enjoyable game.