Friday, October 18, 2013

Melbourne Victory stuns Adelaide United to snatch 2-2 A-League draw from two ... - Yahoo!7 News


The Melbourne Victory stunned Adelaide United with an injury-time equaliser to earn a come-from-behind 2-2 draw at Hindmarsh Stadium on Friday night.


Trailing 2-0 after a first half filled with controversy, the Victory hit back through substitute Guilherme Finkler, before James Troisi thumped home an emphatic finish off the cross bar to level the scores deep into added time.


Adelaide's opener enraged the Victory support when Jeronimo Neumann dashed into the box, only to go down under goalkeeper Nathan Coe's challenge, with the referee signalling a penalty.


Coe's challenge looked convincing and replays backed him up, showing he clearly got a hand on the ball in a legitimate tackle.


Sergio Cirio put the penalty away after being forced to retake it following an Adelaide and Melbourne player encroaching in the box.


Jeronimo doubled Adelaide's lead just two minutes later after winger Awer Mabil's shot on goal was deflected onto the upright, with the Argentinian forward at hand to tap the rebound home.


But the Victory turned the game in their favour in the second stanza, with mounting pressure culminating in Finkler's goal, controlling a rebound from a corner in the air before sweeping home a neat half-volley.


It was to be jubilation for the away team in the 93rd minute, when Mitch Nichols ghosted past his man to cut the ball back for Troisi, who hooked the ball home in off the crossbar for a thumping finish.


Thompson loses shooting boots


It was a night to forget for Victory spearhead Archie Thompson, who spurned a host of chances and made several wrong decisions throughout the match.


Late in the first half, with his side trailing 2-0, Thompson sprung Adelaide's offside trap and was all set to shoot when one on one with Eugene Galekovic, but chose to offload to Connor Pain who was incorrectly flagged for offside.


Galekovic put in a crucial shift for Adelaide in the second half, making a string of saves against Troisi and Mark Milligan, before diving full stretch to keep out a Kosta Barbarouses effort.


Thompson then had the chance to level the match after Finkler's goal, after Nichols pounced on a poor Galekovic clearance to play the Victory striker into the box.


But Thompson could not get the ball entirely under control, contriving instead to clip the crossbar as the chance went begging.


More late pressure from the visitors saw Finkler dribble to beat his man before playing Thompson into the box, only for Galekovic to charge him down in an excellent one-on-one save.


Adelaide United: 2 (S Cirio 22' pen, J Neumann 25')


Melbourne Victory: 2 (G Finkler 79', J Troisi 90'+3)



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