A-League Men’s: Adelaide United’s finals hopes suffer major blow after draw in Brisbane
Needing a win at Suncorp Stadium to jump back into the A-League men’s top-six, Adelaide United were denied.
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Adelaide United’s hopes of playing finals football suffered a major blow on Tuesday night when the Reds were held to a 1-1 draw by the battling Brisbane Roar.
Needing a win at Suncorp Stadium to jump back into the A-League’s top-six, Adelaide led early through a goal from wing-back Dylan Pierias.
However, the Roar, who were chasing back-to-back home wins after last week’s shock 2-1 victory over Western United, grabbed a deserved second-half equaliser through their Ghana-born former Portuguese youth international striker Asumah Abubakar.
Both sides pushed for a winner, but had to settle for a share of the points.
And while the draw was enough for Adelaide to move level with sixth-placed Sydney FC on 37 points, the Reds remain in seventh place with a significantly worse goal difference.
Adelaide has also played one more match than Sydney, and has only one regular season game remaining, a tough away clash against second-placed Melbourne City on Saturday
Sydney has two matches of its regular season schedule to play, but neither are easy, with the Sky Blues to meet Western United and Melbourne City, both away from home.
Adelaide coach Carl Veart was forced to defend his decision to leave the competition’s equal leading goalscorer Archie Goodwin and key playmaker Zach Clough out of his starting 11.
“It’s just about managing their loads,” Veart told Paramount Plus.
“They are two important players for us, and when the speed was taken out of the game, I thought there was an opportunity for them to come on and get something for us.
“Tonight was just about us trying to get a result. We tried to be a little bit more resilient defensively and try to get a few things going on the counter attack, but we just weren’t good enough when we won the ball. Veart, whose coaching contract won’t be renewed for next season, said the Reds would “give it everything” they had against Melbourne City.
“Hopefully things fall our way,” he said.
For the Roar, the draw was enough to move them a point clear of last-placed Perth Glory.
Abubakar said his side was “happy” with the draw.
“We created a lot of chances … and we fought until the end of the game,” he said.
The Reds went ahead in the 11th minute through Pierias, who netted from close range after being found unmarked at the far by a cross from Yaya Dukuly.
However, Adelaide’s customary defensive woes should have led to a Brisbane equaliser just two minutes later, but the Roar’s French playmaker Florin Berenguer somehow lifted his shot over the crossbar from point-blank range.
The Roar thought they did have an equaliser 60 seconds later courtesy of a wonderful strike from teenage talent Jacob Brazete, but a VAR ruling foiled the hosts, with the former Sydney FC youth player judged to be offside by the barest of margins.
Brisbane’s frustrations continued in the 33rd minute with another offside ruling, this time against Abubakar, ensured Adelaide remained in the lead.
Dukuly had a chance to double the Reds advantage on the stroke of half-time but his shot was saved by Roar gloveman Matt Acton.
The Roar grabbed a deserved equaliser in the 59th minute, with Abubakar rewarded for his hard work when his 25-metre strike got the better of Reds gloveman Max Vartuli, who made a mess of his attempt to save the shot.
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Originally published as A-League Men’s: Adelaide United’s finals hopes suffer major blow after draw in Brisbane
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