Adelaide stifles Sydney
ADELAIDE United has managed the almost unthinkable this A-League season and kept Sydney FC scoreless.
Not since Ben Kennedy kept a clean sheet in Central Coast’s 2-0 win over the Sky Blues at the start of November has anyone denied Graham Arnold’s men on the scoresheet.
But an injury-ravaged Adelaide United, with Daniel Margush in goal, turned in a spirited performance at Coopers Stadium last night to hold the A-League leaders to a goalless draw.
The depleted United, which was forced to hand three players their debuts, was resolute against the powerful Sky Blues who dominated much of the contest and peppered Adelaide’s goal for large periods of the second half.
The Reds were without Baba Diawara, Taylor Regan and Ryan Kitto, who were added to the already-lengthy injury list.
And Nikola Mileusnic was a late omission after failing to get through the warm-up. Lachlan Brook earned a starting debut and last week’s hero Apostolos Stamatelopoulos was given his first start while Sydney was almost at full strength.
United’s youth gave the visitors a scare inside the opening minute, with Stamatelopoulos and Brook combining to set up Mark Ochieng, but his near post effort was well saved by Andrew Redmayne.
On the quarter hour Adrian Mierzejewski capitalised on a defensive error from the Reds and was left one-on-one with keeper Margush, but the young shot-stopper stood firm to deny the Polish star with his legs.
Another of United’s young guns went close minutes later when Ryan Strain rattled the bar with a dipping effort from 25 metres.
Mierzejewski again got on the end of some sloppy defending close to the half hour but he pushed his shot wide from the edge of the area.