Marcello Carrusca’s 28th minute goal coupled with some wasteful finishing from the Newcastle Jets resulted in Adelaide United recording a narrow victory at Hunter Stadium on Sunday.
THE SUMMARY:
Newcastle Jets 0, Adelaide United 1
Newcastle Jets were left to rue a series of missed opportunities in front of goal on Sunday, the Novocastrian outfit succumbing to Marcello Carrusca’s lone first half strike before 6,888 supporters at Hunter Stadium.
The Argentine Carrusca netted in the 28th minute of the match after Jets custodian Ben Kennedy had blocked an effort by Spaniard Sergio Cirio just seconds prior.
Nevertheless while Adelaide gave as good as they got throughout the game, Newcastle did fail to take advantage of a series of openings amid the contest. Ultimately, the Jets left their home ground frustrated at their inability to capitalise on the chances they crafted.
In the first stanza Mitch Cooper had two sound opportunities to score. His first strike after Enver Alivodić’s lay-off was goal-bound before Dylan McGowan made a lunge on the line to force the ball away for a corner. Cooper’s second – which he hit on the half volley following Ben Kantarovski’s nod on – lacked the power to pass experienced Adelaide gloveman Eugene Galekovic.
Just two minutes after Cooper’s second effort Ecuadorian attacker Edson Montano weaved his way past a defender in the box before poking the ball at goal. Again, Galekovic proved up to the task to make the save.
Six minutes after the interval B. Kantarovski burst forward, latched on to a great pass from Alivodić, but sent his strike centimetres wide when one-one-one with Galekovic.
Two minutes after Kantarovski’s near miss Montano was in the thick of the action again as he struck the woodwork from close range.
The Ecuadorian also sent another strike just over the bar as the clock wound down and the Jets threw a pile of men forward in a bid to restore parity to the contest.
Unfortunately for the home side and fans, Galekovic would not be beaten on Adelaide’s travels – Josep Gombau’s side recording what they will regard as a highly important three points in the context of their campaign, and their bid for the 2014/15 Hyundai A-League Premiership.
THE SCOREBOARD:
Newcastle Jets 0
Adelaide United 1 (Carrusca 28’)
Venue: Hunter Stadium, Newcastle
Referee: Kazuyoshi Enomoto
Attendance: 6,888
eVent Cinemas Glendale Performance of the Week: Enver Alivodić
THE GOAL:
28’ > The only goal of the game came in the 28th minute of the match as tricky Argentine attacker Marcello Carrusca found the back of the net. In the lead up, Spaniard Isaias dinked a ball over the Newcastle defence to open a chance for compatriot Sergio Cirio. Cirio sent his effort on target, but Ben Kennedy blocked the shot. The rebound fell kindly for Carrusca, who sent a crisp low drive at goal. Kennedy – still low from his first save – got a touch on the strike but couldn’t manage to prevent the ball from bobbling over the line. Unfortunately for the Jets, Kennedy’s touch also took the ball away from Daniel Mullen – the Jets defender desperately tracking back in a bid to clear Carrusca’s crack.Â
THE REACTION:
Phil Stubbins on the result: “We should have won the game, we were the better team. 54 per cent of possession, more shots on goal, more entries into the front third. The intensity was very good in the second half after being a little bit lacklustre in the first half from our perspective, but we raised the bar. I just feel for the boys, and the club, and the supporters there, because it’s all right to demand that we win, but we played the game in the right way today.”
Phil Stubbins on his team’s game plan: “We’ve tried to evolve in a way that we can create chances. We pressed for the whole game, and I think that bore some fruit for us and certainly got us on top of Adelaide. We sort of did an Adelaide to Adelaide really. (We were) extremely unlucky, but looking ahead there there’s some very, very good signs and the boys to a man put in a fantastic shift.”
Phil Stubbins on his team’s missed goalscoring opportunities: “Just for the opportunities that we didn’t take is certainly very frustrating. But we keep going in that same vein and we’re enthused by the opportunities that fell our way. Certainly on any other day or at training the boys would be scoring the goals. It’s not for the want of trying, that’s for sure. We knew that we were playing a very good team in Adelaide who were fantastic last week in the game against Victory, and to the boys’ credit we did an exceptional job in not only nullifying Adelaide but taking the game to them in the way that we did.”
THE TEAMS:
Newcastle Jets FC: 3. Taylor REGAN (27. Radovan PAVICEVIC 85’), 5. Ben KANTAROVSKI (12. Sam GALLAGHER 69’), 7. Enver ALIVODIC, 8. Zenon CARAVELLA, 13. Edson MONTANO, 16. Jacob PEPPER, 19. Mitch COOPER (31. Max BURGESS 63’), 20. Ben KENNEDY (Gk), 21. Daniel MULLEN (C), 22. Lee KI-JE, 26. Nicholas COWBURN
Substitutes not used: 29. Michael KANTAROVSKI, 30. John SOLARI (Gk)
Yellow cards: Kantarovski, Pavicevic
Reds cards: Nil
Adelaide United FC: 1. Eugene GALEKOVIC (Gk) (C), 2. Michael MARRONE, 4. Dylan MCGOWAN, 5. Osama MALIK (14. Cameron WATSON 75’), 7. Pablo SANCHEZ (19. Miguel PALANCA 46’), 8. ISAIAS, 9. Sergio CIRIO (3. Nigel BOOGAARD 42’), 10. Marcello CARRUSCA, 11. Bruce DJITE, 16. Craig GOODWIN, 18. James JEGGO
Substitutes not used: 20. Paul IZZO (Gk), 24. Bruce KAMAU
Yellow cards: Jeggo
Reds cards: Nil
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