Sydney FC have fallen three nil to Adelaide United at Allianz Stadium in front of a crowd of 13,335.
Sydney FC have fallen three nil to Adelaide United at Allianz Stadium in front of a crowd of 13,335.
The Sky Blues had numerous efforts on goal however an inspired effort from Adelaide keeper Eugene Galekovic kept the strikers at bay as Bruce Djite and Fabio Ferreira scored in the first half before Jeronimo Neumann capped off the win with 10 minutes to play to hand Adelaide the three points.
Head Coach Frank Farina made one change to the squad that started against the Heart, handing 18 year old Dylan Caton a starting debut at the base of the Sky Blues midfield diamond with Nick Carle moving to the bench.
Adelaide United made two changes to their squad that lost to Wellington, with Cameron Watson and Michael Zullo returning to the squad as Jeronimo Neumann dropped to the bench. Cameron Bowles was left out of the squad completely.
Both teams struggled to find a rhythm in the opening exchanges. Dylan Caton made his presence known early with two quick challenges before Hagi Gligor had the Sky Blues first sight at goal in the 8th minute.
Gameiro disposed Osama Malik just outside Adelaide-s area, with the ball falling at Alessandro Del Piero-s feet. The Italian slipped a pass through to Gamerio who squared to Despotovic on the six yard line. The Serbian held the ball up and laid it off to Gligor however the youngster could only scoop his shot over the bar.
Adelaide took the lead in the 15th minute as Bruce Djite slipped a shot in at Vedran Janjetovic-s near post.
Fabio Ferreira advanced down the right flank before squaring the ball the Djite, in the box, who took two touches before firing through the legs of two Sky Blues defenders.
Eugene Galekovic was called into action as he made a strong save from a fierce drive from Despotovic in the 23rd minute after the Serbian had been played through by compatriot Milos Dimitrijevic.
Fabio Ferreira doubled Adelaide-s advantage in the 27th minute off the back of a swift counter attack from the Red-s.
With the Sky Blues pressing high for a corner kick, Adelaide played a long ball over the top down the field to Ferreira who was one on one with Gligor. The Portuguese winger outpaced the Sky Blues midfielder to advance into the box before firing low and hard past Janjetovic.
An end to end first half drew to a close with a series of Sky Blue attacks that only fell short at the final ball. The Sky Blues last chance of the half, in the 40th minute saw Alessandro Del Piero whip a free kick millimetres wide of the far post as Adelaide went in at the break two goals up.
Frank Farina made two changes at the start of the second half as Nick Calre and Matt Thompson were brought on for Dylan Caton and Hagi Gligor in order to add a more physical presence in the centre of the park.
Ranko Despotovic had the first chance of the second half after neat interplay between Gameiro and Abbas saw the latter square the ball to the onrushing Serbian whose side footed shot was palmed away by Galekovic.
Despotovic was in the thick of the action as he sliced a volley wide from the penalty spot in the 61st minute.
A spate of fouls dominated the middle period of the half as both sides received yellow cards before Adelaide made it three goals, with 10 minutes left through Neumann.
Sergio Cirio played a neat one two with the Argentinian forward who broke away from his marker into the box to receive Cirio-s squared ball with space and time to slot home.
The Sky Blues next play Perth Glory at Allianz Stadium on Saturday the 15th of February (kick off 5:30pm) and will be hoping for a repeat of form from the 2-1 victory last season at home, albeit at ANZ Stadium.
Sydney FC 0 def by Adelaide United 3 (Djite 15-, Ferreira 27-, Neumann 80-).
Allianz Stadium
Crowd: 13,335
Referee: Alan Milliner
SYDNEY FC:20. Vedran JANJETOVIC (GK), 2. Seb RYALL, 4. Ranko DESPOTOVIC, 5. Matt JURMAN, 6. Nikola PETKOVIC, 9. Corey GAMEIRO, 10. Alessandro DEL PIERO (c), 21. Milos DIMITRIJEVIC, 22. Ali ABBAS, 24. Hagi GLIGOR (46- M.THOMPSON), 35. Dylan CATON (46- N.CARLE).
Substitutes not used: 1 Ivan NECEVSKI (GK), 14. Mitch MALLIA, 34. Aaron CALVER.
Yellow Cards: 33- S.RYALL, 40- R.DESPOTOVIC
ADELAIDE UNITED: 1. Eugene GALEKOVIC (GK), 3. Nigel BOOGAARD, 4. Jonathan MCKAIN, 5. Osama MALIK, 8. ISAIAS, 10. Marcelo CARRUSCA, 11. Bruce DJITE (73- Michael MARRONE), 14. Cameron WATSON, 18. Michael ZULLO (60- S.CIRIO), 21. Tarek ELRICH, 22. Fabio FERREIRA (63- Jeronimo NEUMANN).
Substitutes not used: 20. Paul IZZO (GK), 17. Awer MABIL.
Yellow Cards: 50- ISAIAS, 59- T.ELRICH, 69- J.NEUMANN
