A-League: Adelaide start new season with a home defeat to defending champions Sydney FC

Adelaide fought back from two goals down before succumbing to a late goal from as Ryan McGowan as Sydney FC triumphed on a VAR-inspired opening night of A-League action at Hindmarsh Stadium.

It was a tough night at the office for Jordan Elsey.

Imagine how boring the A-League would have been without the video assistant referee?

Adelaide and Sydney played out a thriller and it was a hometown boy who broke Reds hearts at Hindmarsh Stadium thanks in part to VAR intervention.

Socceroo and ex-Para Hills defender Ryan McGowan scored the winner from a free header to give Sydney a 3-2 win three minutes from time during his A-League debut after 13 years abroad.

His winner was cutting after Adelaide clawed its way back from a two-goal deficit.

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It was a tough night at the office for Jordan Elsey.

Adam Le Fondre scored twice to give Sydney the lead before Nikola Mileusnic kick started the comeback and Al Hassan Toure equalised on an entertaining opening night of the 15th A-League season.

VAR was first called upon when referee Alex King failed to spot a handball after Adelaide allowed Sydney rookie Joel King space to whip in a neat cross which Le Fondre hooked into Reds skipper Michael Jakobsen’s arm in the 18th minute.

Another VAR incident was out of the referee’s hands when Toure scored to level the game at 2-2 eight minutes into the second half.

The teenager’s debut A-League goal look legitimate until VAR forced the game to a halt and every angle of a possible offside call was looked at before it was given the all clear.

However the anxious wait took the sting out of the significance of the equaliser.

Four minutes later — after most of the crowd seemingly hated the VAR intrusion - the 9903 fans soon chanted “VAR, VAR” when Ryan Strain was expelled for dragging down Le Fondre as the last defender outside the box after a loose first touch got him into trouble.

Ryan McGowan got the winner late on.

VAR wasn’t required as there was no obvious error to debate.

The “VAR, VAR” chant was back in action when Sydney’s Kosta Barbarouses scored but after Alex King signalled a goal, VAR again made the correct decision.

The striker was offside — as VAR proved — on the hour.

Sydney’s first goal took most of the gallery by surprise after Adelaide looked to have cleared its lines without incident before Alex King correctly judged — after VAR dragged him to the TV monitor — that a handball offence had occurred.

However, the video screen at Hindmarsh managed to first confuse the partisan crowd when “no penalty” was flashing before anger set in.

The ‘fake news’ on the scoreboard didn’t deter Le Fondre who slammed the ball into the back of the net three minutes after the handball offence to give Sydney a 1-0 lead.

Confusion reigns over Al Hassan Toure’s goal.

A minute later George Blackwood’s perfect ball to Ben Halloran saw the winger crash the ball against the post from point blank range.

Sydney’s young gloveman Thomas Heward-Belle then made a world-class save to keep Mileusnic’s stinging shot out before Le Fondre made it 2-0 in the 28th minute.

A heavy touch from Jakobsen was intercepted by playmaker Milos Ninkovic who split the Reds open with a pass out side to midfielder Alexander Baumjohann.

The German fired the ball across the face of the six-yard box before Le Fondre ended the perfect triangular move with a tap in.

Adelaide, however, rallied and they were rewarded when a Baumjohann foul on Ryan Kitto just outside the box provided the ideal chance to hit back.

Gertjan Verbeek tries to get his point across to his players.

Mileusnic fired the 20m set piece home to set up a thrilling second half as Sydney took a 2-1 lead into the break.

Mileusnic was sacrificed for Michael Marrone in the 62nd minute before Curacao international Michael Maria made his A-League off the bench for impressive teenager and holding midfielder Louis D’Arrigo.

A-League round one

Adelaide United 2 (Nikola Mileusnic 44m, Al Hassan Toure 53m) 3 Sydney FC (Adam Le Fondre 22m, 28m, Ryan McGowan 87m) 3 at Coopers Stadium — Referee: Alex King — Crowd: 9903.