Wanderers fight back to down Adelaide United 3-2 as Alen Stajcic reveals ‘cheat’ slur behind red card

Adelaide United squandered a two-goal lead for the second week in a row - but Alen Stajcic’s red card, and the shock allegations which led to it, dominated the post-match discussion.

Bozhidar Kraev celebrates with his Wanderers teammates. Picture: Getty Images

Alen Stajcic said Adelaide United “staff” allegedly labelled midfielder Dylan Scicluna a “cheat” before the Western Sydney coach was expelled following an ugly melee that erupted deep in second-half stoppage time at Coopers Stadium on Friday night.

Stajcic said he was sent off for “being inside the refs’ technical area” during a heated end to the clash where Wanderers came from two goals behind to beat Adelaide 3-2, inflicting the Reds’ first loss of the season.

“I was animated that we had a player (Scicluna) on the ground, and I suspected an injury,’’ Stajcic said.

“People were crowding around him and some of their staff were calling him a cheat and asked him to get up, but he was seriously injured.

“He could be out for a long time, it’s a disappointing moment and it’s a massive challenge for us, so we’ll get scans to check on that.”

Adelaide captain Ryan Kitto who was cautioned earlier in the clash appeared to kick a dead ball in frustration towards the Wanderers bench but escaped further punishment after Stajcic was expelled.

“I didn’t see that (incident) I was in the tunnel,’’ Stajcic said.

“I thought it was an unbelievably resilient performance to come back from 2-0 down.

“But the way we won, the attacking intent, the positivity and they put their bodies on the line for the 90, 97, 99, 101 minutes, I don’t how they got that much (added) time.”

Wanderers head coach Alen Stajcic was given a red card. Picture: Getty

Adelaide was leading comfortably 2-0 with first-half goals from Ethan Alagich and Archie Goodwin before Wanderers’ Marcus Antonsson pegged back the deficit just before the break.

Brandon Borrello equalised from Adelaide’s poor defending from a corner five minutes after half-time before Bozhidar Kraev scored the winner in the 82nd minute after United was exposed on the counterattack.

The Bulgarian took advantage of an open paddock and the Reds’ defence back peddling without closing the striker down before he unleashed a 20m shot which ended up in the back of the net.

Bozhidar Kraev celebrates after scoring Western Sydney Wanderers’ third goal at Coopers Stadium. Picture: Getty Images

It appeared that Adelaide was running out of legs across the park as Wanderers piled on the pressure before Kraev’s goal, but United coach Carl Veart claimed fatigue wasn’t an issue.

“All the boys were good, we spoke to a couple of them I don’t think it was tiredness, it was with the ball, we wasted the ball,’’ Veart said.

“The playing group will be disappointed to concede at half time and three or four minutes into the second half, it’s something we have to work on.

“It’s about reinforcing what we must do to get results.”