Adelaide United 0-2 Brisbane Roar: Van Dijk Does It Again

Adelaide United 0 – 2 Brisbane Roar, Lineups/Stats
A-League, Fixtures/Results

The Brisbane Roar have withstood an onslaught of attack to grind out a 2-nil win over Adelaide United during Round 14 of the A-League season at Hindmarsh Stadium Friday night.

A brace from Dutchman Sergio Van Dijk was all that could separate the two sides, as Adelaide once again showed they are lacking the finishing prowess that helped them reach last years grand final.

With both teams coming off frustrating draws last week, the Roar were looking for victory tonight to end their 5-match winless streak, while the Reds had a point to prove to their Coach, Aurelio Vidmar, who questioned their finishing capabilities in the lead-up to this game.

Adelaide were very busy this week, re-signing Socceroo Eugene Galekovic and reserve 'keeper Mark Birighitti, whilst also snaring in-form defender Nigel Boogaard from the Central Coast Mariners, and it seemed to have boosted their confidence as they dominated possession from the get-go.

The Reds had the first chance in the 11th minute, when Scott Jamieson put a well-timed pass into the box for midfielder Fabian Barbiero to shoot on the turn; however a patented Danny Tiatto block put a halt to that play immediately.

While their defence were running ragged to a Red-hot attack, the Roar were not without some opportunities of their own, with Mitch Nichols making a great run down the left-hand side of the field, only to spoil it with a terrible shot at goal that flew past everything.

Through the go-ahead of captain Travis Dodd, Jamieson, and Cristiano, Adelaide were creating a number of opportunities, but no matter what they were doing, they could not score against a resilient Brisbane defence.

The best chance for the Reds came in the 26th minute, when Cristiano found his way past goalkeeper Griffin McMaster to find himself staring at an open goal, however the Brazilian striker could not finish it off as McMaster made a valiant last-ditch effort to keep the score level.

But it seemed that the more Adelaide attacked, the lazier they became in defence, and nothing summed this up more than in the 34th minute, when Jamieson fouled Reinaldo in the box, bringing up an instant penalty which allowed Van Dijk to unbelievably put the Roar in front.

Conceding a goal after dominating in attack appeared to have taken the steam out of the Reds, as they stumbled their way to half-time 1-nil down.

Adelaide began the second stanza with an obvious desire to regain the momentum they had early on, but their hopes to equalise were quashed by Van Dijk, who struck a superb shot in the 51st minute, off a David Dodd flick-pass, around Galekovic to put Brisbane up by two.

Nichols was unlucky not to have received the Roar's third when he smashed the ball into the crossbar in the 63rd minute, which then bounced down and into play, however further replays showed that the ball had in fact crossed the line and should have been awarded a goal. 

Kristian Sarkies tried to spark a Reds fight-back, with continuous attacking plays and pressure up front, however he let himself down with finishes that either lacked power or had too much of it.

A Luke DeVere handball in the 69th minute gave the home fans a reason to cheer, as their side had the golden opportunity to stage a comeback, however Lloyd Owusu’s penalty was incredibly saved by a diving McMaster, which in turn silenced the Adelaide fans once again.

From there it was as if Brisbane's discipline went out the window, with a string of yellow cards following, the oddest of all being when Nichols was cautioned after calling for a stretcher, before deciding not to use it.

Chances popped up for both sides in the final minutes; however neither side could find the back of the net, with the Roar finishing up on top with only 37 per cent of possession.

Victory tonight would have been exactly what Coach Ange Postecoglou ordered, as Brisbane jump up into seventh spot on the ladder, leap-frogging the Reds, who are now eighth and wondering what went wrong.

Omar Dabbagh, Goal.com