A-League Round 12: Adelaide United super subs sink Macarthur Bulls
Two young Adelaide substitutes changed the shape of the clash against Macarthur in a remarkable 10-minute spell where Adelaide recovered to beat the Bulls in a drama-filled round 12. All the latest here.
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Macarthur’s French star Valere Germain’s late show goal should have been enough to cancel Adelaide United’s bravado at Campbelltown Sports Stadium last night.
However, two young Adelaide substitutes changed the shape of the clash in a remarkable 10-minute spell where Adelaide recovered to beat the Bulls 2-1.
Adelaide’s teenage striker Luka Jovanovic, 19, scored the winning goal deep in stoppage time after entering the fray in the 76th minute.
Jovanovic who was recently dropped by Adelaide coach Carl Veart for disciplinary reasons became the hero after Yaya Dukuly sparked the Reds into life when Macarthur appeared to be well on its way to earning maximum points.
Macarthur’s Germain, 34, rose high and unchallenged from a tantalising Kealey Adamson cross to nod the ball home in the 80th minute but Adelaide responded in style.
Adelaide substitute Dukuly, 21, turned the game on its ear.
His leg speed earned the youngster a penalty which Zach Clough duly converted five minutes later to re-energise the Reds.
The Englishman smacked the ball into the back of the net from 12 yards in a clash where Adelaide almost paid the ultimate price for not putting several first half chances away.
RECORD EQUALLED
Adelaide’s fifth consecutive win on the road this season, equalled a record set by the Reds inaugural A-League outfit in 2005 which also featured Veart as a player.
Veart was part of the club’s historic A-League side which claimed the inaugural premiership.
“It’s very pleasing, it’s such a difficult place to come to,” Veart told Paramount + after beating the Bulls for the first time away.
“The boys stuck to their principals and (I’m) very proud of the boys, they deserved it after the effort they put in.
“Young Luka (Jovanovic), he made a mistake a couple of weeks back and to get back in (the squad) and to score a goal as well.”
Adelaide moved into second spot after the victory while the Bulls dropped to fifth.
HOT AIR
Perhaps it was the 36C heat during the day which potentially sapped energy in front of a sparse crowd.
Adelaide’s high pressing game consistently found fast winger Ben Folami and overlapping right back Dylan Pierias in transition but the pair where short on viable options and halted by the good form of Bulls keeper Filip Kurto.
Adelaide had the first half better chances with Clough closest to scoring when his shot from the edge of the six-yard box cannoned off the post in the 12th minute.
Despite forcing seven corners and creating two big chances Adelaide ended the first half with a clean sheet which wasn’t in any danger when Macarthur failed to have a shot on target compared to the visitor’s four.
POCKET ROCKET MK 2
Bernardo Oliveira – son of Adelaide United’s Brazilian legend Cassio – forced Reds’ keeper James Delianov into his first save of the clash in the 70th minute.
The Brazilian-born midfielder who was introduced off the bench in the 59th minute.
He appears to be regaining fitness and confidence.
Bernardo was forced into a long rehabilitation after suffering an Achilles injury during an A-League match in March after Adelaide released the clever playmaker last January.
PENALTY DRAMA IN VICTORY DRAW
Melbourne Victory have moved up to second on the A-League Men ladder after being held to an entertaining 2-2 draw by underdogs Western Sydney at AAMI Park on Saturday night.
After surviving an early barrage of Western Sydney shots at goal, Melbourne grabbed a 1-0 lead against the run of play in the 29th minute thanks to Roderick Miranda.
Arzani’s short corner found Ryan Teague who floated it into a dangerous area and found the head of Zinedine Machach who flicked it on and Miranda was at the back post to send it home.
But the Victory captain undid his good work in the 45th minute when, deep in defence, and under pressure from Zac Sapsford, he put his squaring ball on a platter for an unmarked Aydan Hammond who obliged and accepted the gift by ramming it home form 15 yards out.
Nicolas Milanovic gave the visitors the lead in the 76th minute when he ran into the box and with Ryan Teague opting to lay off him, the Wanderers forward drilled it magnificently inside the far post from 15 yards out.
However, there was a late twist when Victory’s Nishan Velupillay had a crack from 15 yards which was blocked by Jack Clisby. After reviewing the footage on the sidelines, referee Lachlan Keevers deemed Clisby had stopped the shot with his outstretched arm and awarded the hosts a penalty.
In the 87th minute, Ryan Teague made it 2-2 when he drilled the spot kick into the top right corner after sending Wanderers goalkeeper Lawrence Thomas the wrong way.
LATE DRAMA
From basically the first foray after the restart, Western Sydney’s Brandon Borello outmuscled Jason Geria and fired a rocket from 12 yards out, but Victory custodian Jack Duncan got in the way with a beautiful save down to his left.
Moments later, Victory were inches away from grabbing all three points when a beautiful cross from Nikos Vergos found Velupillay at the back post, but the latter’s header from a few yards out hit the woodwork.
GOLDEN CHANCES SPURNED
Victory started stronger, but it was the Wanderers who should’ve taken an early lead on multiple occasions.
In the 11th minute, Clisby whipped it in from the left and found Borrello who slid in from six yards out, but failed to make sweet contact with the ball and only managed to hit the left post.
Moments later, Juan Mata’s floating pass deep into attack found Sapsford, but from just five yards out, he inexplicably fired it over the frame.
In the 24th minute, another golden opportunity was presented to the visitors when Duncan accepted a backpass from Brendan Hamill but took far too long to dispatch of the ball.
His lackadaisical attitude allowed Sapsford to close in on him and force him to cough it up straight to Borello who passed it back to Sapsford, but the 22-year-old failed to convert from 10 yards out after ignoring Oscar Priestman by himself from 15 yards out.
After Western Sydney equalised, Melbourne finished the first half stronger with three good chances in stoppage time, the best of which saw Machach let fly from 20 yards out but his bullet was tipped over the bar by Thomas.
DILES STILL WINLESS
A win for Victory would’ve seen them get within two points of league leaders Auckland, but instead they’re four points adrift of top spot, as their winless run extends to four games - a stretch which began when interim coach Arthur Diles took over the reins.
Western Sydney have now lost just one of their last six games, a run that has included three wins, as they continue their impressive recovery from their concerning start to the season which saw them victorious in just one of their first five outings.
Sydney stun with late equaliser against Newcastle
- Robert Dillon
Sydney FC coach Ufuk Talay hopes to reinforce his squad during the January transfer window after the Sky Blues salvaged a 2-all draw against the Jets in Newcastle on Saturday.
Newcastle led 2-0 after 72 minutes and appeared on track for a much-needed win at home, only for Sydney to hit back through English forward Joe Lolley (79th minute) and Anthony Caceres, who scored the equaliser in the last minute of regulation time.
The result lifted Sydney to eighth on the competition ladder, four points adrift of the top six, after four wins, four losses and and two draws from their first 10 games.
Talay admitted Sydney’s first half against Newcastle was “not good at all” but felt his players showed “good character” to fight back from 2-0 down.
“Overall, to walk away with a point away from home, when we’re not at our best, is a positive,” he said.
After losing star import Douglas Costa last week to a long-term hamstring injury, Talay confirmed Sydney are exploring the player market for new personnel to sign during the January transfer window.
“There’s some things bubbling in the background there we’re thinking of, to enhance the team,” Talay said.
“We’re always looking to make things better, so there might be some changes coming in that window ... there’s a few things that we’re looking at the moment, a few positions that we’re looking at.
“We’ll go through that closer to the window.
“There’s already a few conversations happening in the background, and we’ll see what comes to fruition.”
The result leaves the Jets 11th on the points table, after two wins from their first nine games. Newcastle coach Rob Stanton was satisfied with his team’s overall performance against Sydney, if not the result.
“I’m not disappointed,” he said.
“It’s just a lesson on managing or playing out games. Against good teams, that can happen to you ...
“There is an element of disappointment. Don’t get me wrong - you’re here to win games.
“At the same time, we’re a bit thin at the moment. We’ve had some big injuries.
“It was a big ask for the players and I thought their performance was outstanding. We played our game.”
GREAT ESCAPE
In an open, free-flowing contest, Newcastle had the better of the chances in the first half.
They were eventually rewarded in the 41st minute when attacker Eli Adams created space on the right-hand sideline and crossed infield.
Sydney defender Aaron Gurd slid in with intentions of defusing the situation, only to deflect the ball into his own net.
The Jets doubled their advantage in the 73rd minute when Clayton Taylor produced a clinical finish after Thomas Aquilina whipped in a cross.
It was Taylor’s first goal this season, after the young midfielder scored seven last campaign.
Sydney hit back five minutes later when Lolley scored, leaving the home team desperately defending a one-goal lead in the dying minutes.
Then came the equaliser from Caceres, which was a heart-breaker for Newcastle.
COUNTING THE COST
Costa, the Brazilian veteran who formerly played for Juventus and Bayern Munich, is expected to miss the next six to eight weeks.
The 34-year-old limped off early in the second half of last week’s 3-0 win against Melbourne Victory, and Sydney clearly lacked creativity in his absence.
HOME TRUTHS
The result was another bitter pill for Newcastle’s long-suffering fans, who are crying out for a win to celebrate.
The Jets’ most recent victory in their own backyard was a 3-1 triumph against Sydney on April 4 last year - nine months ago.
BETTER LATE THAN NEVER
Sydney FC’s active supporters certainly know how to stage an appearance.
Chanting, banging drums and waving flags, they were hard to miss after arriving - fashionably late - a few minutes after kick-off.
Red card, own goal, another loss: Roar’s season from hell continues
- Marco Monteverde
Brisbane Roar’s depressing A-League season has continued with a 3-1 home loss to the Central Coast Mariners.
The defeat continued Brisbane’s horror 2024-25 campaign, with the Roar, who are without a win in 10 A-League matches this season, having picked up just two points from a possible 30.
While it was another frustrating for the Queenslanders, who also had defender Hosine Bility sent off in the dying stages for a second bookable offence, it was a relieving win for the Mariners.
Last season’s champions have made a disappointing start to their title defence, however their third win of the campaign may yet kickstart their bid to again play finals football.
Late goals from midfielder Harry Steele and substitute Arthur De Lima, a former Brisbane youth player, sealed Central Coast’s win after Brisbane had equalised in the 71st minute through a Ben Halloran volley.
It was a deserved equaliser, with the Roar having dominated the contest after making a shocking start when the Mariners went ahead in the 11th minute through an own goal from Brisbane midfielder Walid Shour.
The Lebanon international failed to deal with a dangerous free-kick from Central Coast’s Brazilian star Mikael Doka, with his clumsy attempt at a clearance resulting in the ball deflecting off his hand and rolling past stranded Brisbane goalkeeper Macklin Freke on its way to the back of the net.
Mariners goalkeeper Dylan Peraic-Cullen was forced to make saves soon after to deny Roar skipper Jay O’Shea and teenage striker Thomas Waddingham, while attacking weapon Keegan Jelacic had a shot that was blocked by Central Coast defender Brian Kaltak.
However, the hosts’ lack of a cutting edge in attack meant they had nothing to show for their overall first-half superiority.
The Roar continued to push forward after the break, with Waddingham – who has been linked with moves to English clubs Middlesbrough and Sheffield Wednesday – having a great chance to equalise in the 56th minute.
Halloran’s goal then gave the Roar’s long suffering fans hope that the club’s first win of the season was within reach, however the Mariners responded through goals from Steele and De Lima to continue Brisbane’s agony and heap more pressure on embattled coach Ruben Zadkovich despite him this week receiving the backing of the club’s chief executive officer Kaz Patafta.
BROTHERLY BATTLE
The Herrington brothers – Brisbane’s Lucas and Central Coast’s Diesel – went head-to-head in the A-League for the first time.
Lucas, 17, started in the heart of the Roar defence in just his fourth A-League appearance, while big brother Diesel – a 20-year-old defender and former Brisbane youth player – entered the contest in the 65th minute as a replacement for ex-Socceroo Trent Sainsbury.
And while they were on opposing sides, Diesel was quick to check on the welfare of his younger brother after he was dumped to the ground by another Mariners substitute, Ryan Edmondson.
A-LEAGUE COACH LIFTS LID ON ‘FRUSTRATING AS HELL’ INJURY CRISIS
—Ronny Lerner
Melbourne City coach Aurelio Vidmar has described his club’s injury crisis as “frustrating as hell” and “ridiculous” and conceded they will have to review their medical department as a result.
Midfielder Andreas Kuen became the latest victim during their 2-0 win over Wellington on Friday evening at AAMI Park when he injured his hamstring in the 18th minute.
Vidmar admitted that the early signs weren’t good for the Austrian who joins Mathew Leckie (hamstring), Marco Tilio (hamstring), Andrew Nabbout (knee), Yonatan Cohen (knee), Max Caputo (syndesmosis/fibula) and Jimmy Jeggo (Achilles) on the sidelines.
“It’s never a good sign when your leg is planted and you get a push. So that’s always a little bit dangerous,” Vidmar said of Kuen.
“It’s disappointing because it’s got to the point of being so ridiculous.
“That was the fourth soft-tissue injury (of City’s season) … when there’s soft-tissue injuries we have to look at what we’re doing.
“If they’re things that we can control, we have put our hand up, and if we’re doing something wrong we have to change things.”
Vidmar has “never seen” a run of injuries like the one that his team is currently experiencing and even wondered whether a curse had been put on them.
“I don’t know. Walking under ladders? Running over a cat? What else? The (broken) mirror? Putting shoes on your table? That’s an Italian one,” he smiled.
But the huge positive for City is that they are now unbeaten in their past five games to provisionally sit in third spot on the ladder, despite their personnel woes.
Against Wellington, Melbourne’s starting line-up featured six players aged 23 or under and the average age of their bench was 19, yet they absolutely walloped the Phoenix for shots on goal (21-1), shots on target (9-0), touches in opposition box (40-2) and passes in opposition half (339-36).
“I think that was one of our better performances this year … it really was exceptional,” he said.
“As frustrated as everyone is with the injuries, it doesn’t faze them.
“They don’t mind if the kids are in the team, as long as they’re giving everything they possibly can.
“There is absolutely zero doubt that we can go onto the pitch and win. It doesn’t matter who’s on the pitch, who it’s against.
“Our attitude was spot on. There were a lot of parts of the game that we probably took to another level today.
“You can have an inexperienced side, but the grit, the hunger, being brave – all those things, you put that together, anything’s possible.”
And City will continue to rely on their youngsters for the foreseeable future with Leckie the only injured star nearing a return potentially against Brisbane next weekend.
Originally published as A-League Round 12: Adelaide United super subs sink Macarthur Bulls
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