Melbourne Victory has scrapped its way to a share of the points in a 1-1 draw on the road against traditional rivals Adelaide United in the Hyundai A-League at Adelaide Oval tonight.
The excitement level failed to reach any great heights for the best part of 80 minutes with the compact defences well on top and a lightning fast surface making it hard for the sides to dictate the tempo.
But a spectacular goal from United’s Sergio Cirio in 85th minute brought the game to life.
Cirio wrong footed Victory captain Mark Milligan outside the box, cut inside and produced a delightful curling shot past goalkeeper Nathan Coe.
Just when United looked to be closing in on the three points, the gallant Victory found an equaliser through second half substitute Fahid Ben Khalfallah.
With only a minute and stoppage time remaining, Ben Khalfallah found space in a crowded penalty area to volley home from Gui Finkler’s inch-perfect cross from the corner.
United was undoubtedly the better side, producing a lop-sided 14 shots to four.
But most of the home side’s attacks were thwarted by a solid Victory defence consisting Adrian Leijer, Matthieu Delpierre, Daniel Georgievski and Jason Geria.
Delpierre’s calmness on the last line has been massive for a Victory backline that was prone to snap under pressure last season.
It should come as no shock considering the 33 year old has played at the highest levels in France and Germany and was once a French under-age international.
He is also Bundesliga winner at Stuttgart.
Carl Valeri was the most infuential for the Victory in the midfield, completing 39 passes at 87%.
Marcelo Carrusca’s dancing feet with a feature for the United side in a game largely bereft of highlights.
Isaias, who has played in La Liga with Espanyol, was superb for United in an control sense with 30 passes at 80%.
The Victory was perhaps the happier of the two sides with the draw and can be content to be heading into next Saturday night’s local derby with Melbourne City at Etihad Stadium still undefeated.
Star Weekly’s three stars …
Marcelo Carrusca (Adelaide United)
The longer the game wore on, the more you got the feeling that Carrusca would be the most likely to find a teammate in a scoring position. Not one to pass the buck, Carrusca was able to draw defenders in with his dancing feet and deliver a total of eight crosses for the game, most of a high standard.
Nathan Coe (Melbourne Victory)
It was a tricky night for the Victory goalkeeper, but he answered the call on all occasions, bar Cirio’s impossible-to-stop go-ahead goal. Strong in the air and a cool head in the various goal mouth scrambles.
Sergio Cirio (Adelaide United)
Owned the moment, the one which saw an otherwise drab game explode to life with a superb curling shot from outside the box.
The bottom line …
Adelaide United 1 (Cirio 85) drew Melbourne Victory 1 (Ben Khalfallah 89).
Crowd: 33,126 at Adelaide Oval.
