Mariners see off United
The Central Coast Mariners chalked up the first win of their A-League campaign with a 1-0 win over Adelaide United at Bluetongue Stadium on Saturday.
On Friday Melbourne Victory farewelled new Socceroos coach Ange Postecoglou in winning style.
Nick Fitzgerald’s second-minute strike sealed the points against an enterprising Adelaide, who slumped to a ninth successive defeat to the Mariners.
The defending champions had plenty of opportunities to make the scoreline more comprehensive with a dominant second-half display but failed to take their chances in front of a crowd of 9,109.
Substitute Matt Simon missed a gilt-edged opportunity when he blasted over from close range after Mile Sterjovski’s effort came back off the post and on the stroke of halftime Fitzgerald’s side-footed attempt hit the bar from less than a metre out with only Eugene Galekovic to beat.
Adelaide, under former Barcelona youth team coach Josep Gombau, have adopted a slow, patient approach revolving around the enterprising Spanish pair of Isaias and Sergio Cirio.
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Cirio, playing just behind lone striker Brett McGrath, was an ever-willing runner but for all their possession the visitors had no cutting edge in the final third and Justin Pasfield in the Mariners’ goal was largely untroubled.
From the opening whistle the visitors showed their intentions, building from the back, but the Mariners happily sat back and caught them on the break with McGrath lacking the support in attack to worry the home side’s well-marshalled defence.
After the break Graham Arnold’s side dominated in midfield but failed to add a second goal to kill off the game.
Michael McGlinchey went close with a well struck free-kick that Galekovic tipped behind and the veteran keeper was on hand again to save his side when he raced out of his box to clear from the onrushing Mitchell Duke.
But four minutes from time Adelaide almost made the home side pay for their profligacy when Cirio’s magical footwork took him past three Mariners defenders, but he rolled the ball past the wrong side of the post.
On Friday night Socceroos coach Ange Postecoglou left Melbourne Victory on a high after defeating his previous club Brisbane Roar 1-0.
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Looking exhausted after the final whistle, Postecoglou spoke of a difficult week for himself and the club after being appointed national coach on Thursday.
“Whenever you get an opportunity like (coaching Victory) you want to repay that, and I don’t think I have, leaving at this point,” he said
“In terms of my input I still think that the club’s in great shape… but you kinda leave thinking you should have put more into it and seen it through.”
Results
MELBOURNE VICTORY 1 (James Troisi 56m) bt BRISBANE ROAR 0 at Etihad Stadium. Crowd: 21,693. Referee: Ben Williams.
CENTRAL COAST MARINERS 1 (Nicholas Fitzgerald 2m) bt ADELAIDE UNITED 0 at Bluetongue Stadium. Crowd: 9,109. Referee: Peter Green.
WESTERN SYDNEY WANDERERS 2 (Iacopo La Rocca 12m, Shinji Ono 26m) bt SYDNEY FC 0 at Allianz Stadium. Crowd: 40,388. Referee: Strebre Delovski.
LADDER AFTER Rd 3 P W D L GF GA GD Pts
Brisbane Roar 3 2 0 1 6 2 4 6
Western Sydney Wanderers 3 1 2 0 4 2 2 5
Central Coast Mariners 3 1 2 0 4 3 1 5
Melbourne Victory 3 1 2 0 3 2 1 5
Adelaide United 3 1 1 1 5 4 1 4
Sydney FC 3 1 0 2 2 6 -4 3
*Melbourne Heart 2 0 2 0 2 2 0 2
*Wellington Phoenix 2 0 1 1 2 3 -1 1
*Perth Glory 2 0 1 1 1 3 -2 1
*Newcastle Jets 2 0 1 1 0 2 -2 1
*(denotes teams yet to play)
LEADING GOALSCORERS
3: Jeronimo Neumann (Adelaide)
2: David Williams (Melbourne Heart), Marcos Flores (Mariners), James Troisi (Victory)
1: Besart Berisha (Brisbane), Joel Chianese (Sydney), Guilherme Finkler (Victory), Stein Huysegems (Wellington), Alessandro Del Piero (Sydney), Jerome Polenz (Western Sydney), Shinji Ono (Western Sydney), Nicholas Fitzgerald (Mariners), Thomas Broich (Brisbane), Mitchell Duke (Mariners), Ivan Franjic (Brisbane), Jeremy Brockie (Wellington), Matthew Smith (Brisbane), Fabio Ferreira (Adelaide), Iacopo La Rocca (Western Sydney), Ryo Nagai (Perth), Tomi Juric (Western Sydney), Sergio Cirio (Adelaide), Jade North (Brisbane), Henrique (Brisbane)
Playing on Sunday
Wellington v Newcastle (1500 aest)
Perth v Melbourne Heart (1700 aest)
