Goodwin back to score winner for Adelauide United

It just had to be Craig Goodwin scoring the winner on his return home after two years in the Middle East.

Adelaide United’s Craig Goodwin sends a message to his pregnant partner after scoring his team’s second goal at Coopers Stadium. Picture: Getty Images

It just had to be Craig Goodwin scoring the winner on his return home after two years in the Middle East.

Goodwin’s trademark left footed shot crashing into the back of the net saw the Reds beat Newcastle Jets 2-1 at Hindmarsh Stadium on Friday night.

Goodwin’s delight arrived after D’Arrigo’s first A-League goal was put on a plate by a poor Jets clearance.

The ball landed at the feet of the 19-year-old’s 32nd match.

From 12m D’Arrigo made no mistake with a top corner strike in the sixth minute.

Connor O’Toole equalised with a cracking 22m goal in the 22nd minute after a wall pass saw Adelaide’s defence fail to close down space.

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Angus Thurgate’s back to goal pass then saw O’Toole silence the home crowd with a goal of the season contender.

In a seesawing contest where defending was an afterthought, crossbars and posts rocked when Jets’ Steven Ugarkovic and Reds’ Ben Halloran unleashed long range efforts in the first half.

Former Reds striker Apostolos Stamatelopoulos’s header crashing against the crossbar the 60th minute was another ominous warning.

Goodwin returned the favour when his 25m set piece crashed against the post in the 70th minute before netting the winner eight minutes later.

The 29-year-old’s first appearance at Hindmarsh since a 1-0 finals win over Melbourne City in May 2019 was as expected.

It was first class after returning on loan from his Saudi club Al Wehda.

However the Reds lacked the mongrel in vital moments when the ball needed to be the priority at all costs after Goodwin’s good delivery work.

He took the matter into his own hands with a classy second goal of this campaign.

Adelaide had three clear claims for penalties but after three dubious spot kicks were awarded to the Reds two weeks ago it appeared that luck had run out.

Ben Halloran being fouled inside the box in the third minute by former Red Johnny Koutroumbis appeared to be a certain spot kick.

Goodwin had a penalty denied when ex-Red Nigel Boogaard clipped his ankles but again the match officials didn’t flinch.

Goodwin had another claim in the 54th minute when Nikolai Topor-Stanley seemed to upend the winger inside the box.

Captain Stefan Mauk tried his luck but when he crashed inside the box seemingly without being touched it riled Boogaard six minutes before time.

The game was probably entertaining from a fans’ point of view but it turned into an end-to-end slugfest of questionable decision making.

The tempo was rarely under control.

Not one side was able to dictate play for enough time to settle the dust on a lost ball, bad pass or a breather in order to reset.

It was far too easy to move the ball between defences for both sides.

By the time the dying embers of the second half arrived the less fatigued team was always going to take the points.

Soft tissue woes

After scoring a hat-trick of penalties for Adelaide in a 3-2 win over Central Coast, key striker Tomi Juric missed his second consecutive clash after injuring his groin a fortnight ago.

Mohamed Toure appeared to suffer from a hamstring strain just minutes after coming off the bench in the 63rd minute.

This comes after Ryan Strain and Michael Jakobsen returned to the starting side after weeks off with soft tissue injuries.

Mauk and Spaniard Javi Lopez both had muscle related problems throughout the season.

It’s a concern the Reds need to rectify immediately.

NCA Newswire