The Airton Andriolo era at Adelaide United has kicked off in the best possible fashion as the Reds recorded a 2-1 A-League Men victory over Sydney FC at Coopers Stadium.
Returning skipper and Adelaide veteran Craig Goodwin teed up former skipper Ryan Kitto for the opener on 55 minutes before Ethan Alagich made it 2-0 10 minutes later following a dominant first half from Adelaide.
Sydney star Joe Lolley pulled a goal back for the visitors in injury time to ensure a frantic finish, but the Reds held on to give Andrioli a win in his maiden A-League fixture as head coach.
Andrioli said he was delighted to have started his reign with maximum points.
“We’re extremely happy, it’s always a little bit nervy the first game of the season,” he said.
“Even though we had a lot of time to prepare you never know, because this is real deal when you play for points, play against a good opposition and you’ve got the whole crowd here.
United should have broken the early deadlock on seven minutes but were denied but a stunning save by Harrison Devenish-Meares.
Luke Duzel released Dylen Pierias with a delightful ball over Sydney’s defence and the full back rolled it across the box into the path of Goodwin.
The Adelaide captain side-footed from close range but Devenish-Mears scrambled across and thwarted the effort from a few metres out.
United had an almost identical chance two minutes later when Duzel slipped in Yaya Dukuly who whipped a ball in from the left to the far post. Panagiotis Kikianis was left unchecked and his effort from five metres out was cleared off the line by Devenish-Meares.
On 27 minutes Lolley got in behind Kitto and lifted a cross towards Victor Campuzano. The Spaniard headed in to Kikianis before the ball was eventually cleared by Adelaide.
Adelaide kicked off the second half just as they finished the first, testing Devenish-Meares soon after the restart, but Jonny Yull’s effort was kept out with an excellent diving save.
But, the Reds deservedly took the lead on 55 minutes following a perfectly executed corner.
Goodwin whipped in a sublime delivery from the right and with everyone committed to the near post, Kitto ghosted in at the back and powered a diving header past Devenish-Meares.
United doubled their lead 10 minutes later after a well-worked passage which was started and finished by Alagich. The Reds midfielder collected the ball from Pierias and found Dukuly wide on the left, before continuing his run into the box.
Dukuly threaded it through for Alagich who lashed home from a tight angle 10 metres out, beating Devenish-Meares at the near post.
Sydney FC skipper Rhyan Grant hit the post on 69 minutes after he was teed up by Lolley but the visitors struggled to carve out any more clear chances until injury time.
The visitors had the Reds pinned back inside their penalty area before the ball fell to Lolley on the edge of the area. The winger unleashed first time and curled the ball through a packed box and into the far corner.
Meanwhile, Brisbane Roar have started their A-League Men campaign under new boss Michael Valkanis with a gritty 1-0 win over Macarthur FC – despite the high drama of the coach’s son being sent on his ALM debut early in the second half.
After the Roar’s 12th-placed finish last season, Valkanis said that he wanted to put “the roar back in Brisbane” and this was a promising start in front of 6218 fans at Suncorp Stadium even amid his own family drama with his son.
The 19-year-old Roar defender was dismissed in the 58th minute after acquiring his second yellow card for a late challenge on Harry Sawyer.
Still, it couldn’t stop the Roar winning their season-opening match for the first time in six years. Last season, it had taken Brisbane 13 matches to notch a win.
The coach said his son was “apologising for leaving the team with 10 men”.
“Sometimes things happen for a reason,” Valkanis said.
“It’s gone in a good way in terms that we had to roll up the sleeves and really work hard and prove the togetherness we have been building.
“We’ve been saying … anyone, anywhere, anytime you fight to win and find a way to win.”
Bulls coach Mile Sterjovski said the style of football played by the Roar under Valkanis “surprised” him.
He said there was “a lot of time-wasting” and he thought the Roar’s football would be “a lot more positive”.
Valkanis hit back.
“I don’t know what they expect, whether they expect us to lie down and let them beat us,” he said.
“Maybe they found a Roar that is putting the roar back into Brisbane and want to fight until the very end. That’s what we showed.”
The hosts had been totally committed and played with more physicality than the Bulls in what was a brutal 100-minute clash marred by multiple fouls..
The Bulls were unable to break down the defiant Roar who showed commendable resilience.
Earlier, Roar skipper Jay O’Shea, the club’s best player for multiple years and man of the match, nailed a 38th minute penalty to send supporters group ‘The Den’ into raptures.
The 37-year-old Irishman had already been a shining light in midfield with his cunning crosses and free kicks.
It was a sneaky short free kick to forward Georgios Vrakas that set the goal-scoring opportunity in motion.
Vrakas drilled a cross and all veteran Bulls skipper Luke Brattan could do was get his hands in the way inside the box, giving O’Shea the penalty chance which he drilled into the top right corner of the net to give goalkeeper Filip Kurto no chance.
Impressive 21-year-old Roar midfielder Samuel Klein was heavily involved early and went close to getting hold of a pinpoint cross by O’Shea at the far post.
It was the visitors who had the best scoring opportunity when a raking run by forward Chris Ikonomidis and a slick cross was headed wide by Dean Bosnjak.
The Bulls looked most dangerous when Socceroos midfielder Anthony Caceras roamed forward to his left and right but it happened far too infrequently in the opening half.
Caceras sent a perfect long ball onto the head of Bosnjak straight after the break but once again the chance was spurned.
After Valkanis was marched, the hosts hung tough in a gruelling encounter that went to the 100th minute.
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