Bottom teams produce top clash

At half time you would have forgiven John Aloisi if he had logged into seek.com.au from his phone such was the way his struggling Melbourne Heart side had played in this crunch match against fellow strugglers Adelaide United.

Down 2-0 after being able to only secure two points from a possible 21 on offer this season, things weren't looking good for the former Socceroo hero.

The first half was an absolute shambles in every area of the game for Heart; defensive mistakes, unaccountability in the  midfield and misfiring forwards were all to blame. Adelaide weren't too much better either, the only difference being that they had two shots on target that managed to hit the back of the net.

It looked like Aloisi managed to stay off the job hunting website and organise a plan during the break as Heart came out looking interested for the first time in a long while this season. Andrea Migliorini took centre stage, putting his hand up for goal of the season (and possibly Melbourne Hearts greatest ever goal) in the 54th minute and equalising with another belter twelve minutes later.

The sight of Aloisi fist pumping resonated through the Heart crowd and it got even better for Melbourne as experienced referee Strebre Delovski whistled a howler of a penalty for the home side.

Tarek Elrich was adjudged to have handballed in the area, replays showed nothing of the sort. David Williams stepped up to slot home and give Heart a lead that was unimaginable only half an hour earlier.

Adelaide to their credit did not throw the baby out with the bath water and fought back six minutes later. Marcelo Carrusca, who had been involved all day, got the goal he deserved when his free kick took a large deflection leaving Andrew Redmayne no chance at all.

At the end of the evening the draw helped neither team but possibly bought both coaches an extra week or two of employment.

Adelaide will feel harshly dealt with after conceding a penalty that wasn't there and Heart will feel like it has its mojo back and move on upwards from here. It was only four weeks ago that Frank Farina, a coach who was supposedly a game away from the sack himself called Heart the unluckiest team in the competition, maybe he was onto something as he himself has gone from the dog house to the penthouse in only four short weeks.

Melbourne Heart   3 (Migliorini 54' 66' Williams p71')
Adelaide United     3 (Lustica 4' Cirio 15' Carrusca 77')
AAMI Park -
Attendance 6,002*
Referee - Strebre Delovski

Melbourne Heart  - Redmayne (GK) Behich, Weilaert, Gerhardt, Kisnorbo, Ramsay, Dugandzic(46),Migliorini(86), Murdocca, Mifsud, Williams(88),
Subs - Velaphi, Kelmar(86), Mauk(88), Mebrahtu(46), Hoffman

Adelaide United - Galekovic(GK), Zullo, Boogaard, Elrich, Carrusca, Lustica(75), Malik, Sanchez, Ferreira(60), Neumann(61), Cirio
Subs - Hall (GK), Barker-Daish(75), Mabil(60), Djite(61), Elsey