Adelaide United have put a dampener on Jamie Harnwell's record-breaking match by beating Perth Glory 2-0 at Hindmarsh Stadium tonight. Harnwell's 242nd match for the Glory, passing ex-striker Bobby Despotovski, did not end the way he wanted as the league leaders asserted their authority on the competition with a near faultless 2-0 win over the Western Australians thanks to a second half double from Sergio van Dijk.
A-League Week 8Adelaide United: 2 (Sergio van Dijk 70', (p) 73') Perth Glory: 0
Venue: Hindmarsh Stadium Crowd: 13,310 Referee: Matthew Breeze Yellow cards:AU - Robert Cornthwaite 44', Paul Reid 65' PG - Jamie Coyne 38', 75', Tando Velaphi 73' Red card:PG - Jamie Coyne 75'
Perth started the brighter of the two sides with a couple of early chances but the league leaders soon hit their groove and were enjoying plenty of possession heading towards the 20-minute mark.
Reds skipper Lucas Pantelis forced a good save from Glory keeper Tando Velaphi in the 21st minute before Paul Reid also tried his luck from long range as the home side were making their intentions clear and looked very likely to scoring at some stage.
The battle evened out as the half went on with the Glory controlling more of the play but the first 45 minutes ended scoreless although there were definitely some goals to be scored somewhere.
Adelaide's sweeping first half was somewhat quelled in the early stages of the second half as Dave Mitchell tried to close down Rini Coolen's free-flowing Reds but again they opened up as things progressed.
However, it was Adelaide who took the lead in the 70th minute when GOAL Sergio van Dijk scored with a brilliant header from a well-weighted Joe Keenan cross. The Dutchman's angle and power on the nodded ball gave Velaphi no chance and sent the Hindmarsh fans into a frenzy.
Moments later, Velaphi conceded a penalty when he came out to meet a ball with a clenched fist but could make contact with Pantelis. GOAL van Dijk stepped up to the spot and tucked it way nicely to give his side a two-goal buffer.
Things went from bad to worse when defender Jamie Coyne received a second yellow for a challenge on Reid, reducing his side to ten men, and it almost became 3-0 in the 80th minute when Velaphi produced a double save to deny Pantelis who was having a stellar game in midfield.
The final ten minutes provided little joy for the Glory who were in dire need of a goal but they were unable to peg one back and United recorded their fifth win of the season and now remain undefeated for both this season and the last nine games at home.
Starting Line-Ups
AUEugene Galekovic (gk), Robert Cornthwaite, Iain Fyfe, Lucas Pantelis (Ramsay 88'), Adam Hughes, Sergio van Dijk (Shin 90+1'), Marcos Flores, Paul Reid, Mathew Leckie, Cameron Watson, Joe Keenan (Norton 87')
Subs - Mark Birighitti (gk), Inseob Shin (90+1'), Iain Ramsay (88'), Bradley Norton (87')
PG Tando Velaphi (gk), Jamie Coyne, Andy Todd, Jamie Harnwell, Jacob Burns, Robbie Fowler (Skorich 79'), Michael Baird, Steven McGarry, Todd Howarth (Mitchell 78'), Naum Sekulovski, Mile Sterjovski
Subs - Alex Vrteski (gk), Josh Mitchell (78'), Adriano Pellegrino, Anthony Skorich (79')
