Adelaide are sitting in fourth after round 10 of the A-League Men following a 2-0 win over Perth. (Image: Adelaide United - Twitter)
Adelaide has bounced back from its shock loss against Newcastle to beat Perth 2-0 at home on Monday night. It now finds itself in the top four to start 2023 with an important run of matches to close out January.
The Reds scored on either side of halftime and rarely looked troubled by Glory’s efforts, Lachlan Barr opened the scoring with his first A-League Men’s goal. More than 10,000 fans attended Coopers stadium to see Carl Veart’s side start 2023 with a win.
United has registered almost 20,000 fans attending their past two games in the sweltering heat as sport in Adelaide continues to thrive. Veart’s said the boys love playing at home, and seeing the fan support is everything his squad could ask for.
“It’s great to see the supporters back out and supporting the club,” Veart said.
“I think the fans can see that we’re doing the right things, and trying to develop our younger players.
“There’s nothing greater than coming to watch young South Australian players before they go onto bigger and better things.”
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Both sides worked into the first half with half chances but lacked polish and couldn’t break the deadlock, the best offering was a Zach Clough header that climbed just over the bar from close range. It wasn’t until the 40th minute when Barr pounced on a juggling ball in the box to head it home from the penalty spot.
The win breaks a two-game losing streak and keeps Adelaide in touch with the top end of the ladder. Veart was relieved in his press conference and said his team found a lot of good things to take out of the game.
“It’s always great to get a win, especially at home,” Veart told reporters after the match.
“To keep a clean sheet as well is a big positive for us, as well as a young boy making his starting debut and he was outstanding tonight.
“There were a lot of positives for us tonight and we just have to hope it carries on for the rest of the season.”
The Reds doubled their lead in the 72nd minute when Ben Halloran capped off a well-worked team move from defence. Craig Goodwin’s first touch pass released Clough down the wing who was able to beat Glory’s defence and centre the ball for Halloran.
It was the payoff for all of Adelaide’s hard work, consistently probing and testing Perth’s defence by getting in runners behind the line and looking for that deep ball. Veart said the counterattacking style is something his side focuses on heavily at training.
“I think you’d find common trends with the way we play,” he said.
“There’s a lot of forward runs and getting in behind, we like to move the ball quickly. If you come watch us at training it’s a very common style for us.
“Tonight it was good, we were nice and quick and we were able to get in behind them.”
He also touched on how nice it was to see Barr score his first goal for the club after a few testing weeks.
“He’s been on notice for his performances so far this year, but we’ve stuck with him,” he said.
“Confidence comes from winning, so having lost our last two games players be a little bit edgy and you could probably sense it in the first 10-15 minutes today.”
Adelaide will enjoy the task of stopping Jason Cummings off the back of a brace when it travels to meet the Central Coast Mariners next Saturday. While Perth is back at home and looking down the barrel at a challenge from second-placed Western Sydney Wanderers on Friday night.
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