Reds faith repaid as Gombau sinks Mariners

Adelaide United coach Josep Gombau has dedicated his side’s 4-0 win over the Central Coast Mariners to his players and the 7000-strong crowd who were on hand to witness the Reds’ second victory of the season.


The four goal demolition of the reigning champions brought an end to a tumultuous week for United where the build-up to Saturday’s match was concentrated on off-field events after Gombau made a personal attack on a local reporter’s son at Friday’s pre-match press conference.

A rare smile

A banner proclaiming ‘In Josep we trust’ was unveiled by the Red Army before kick-off, in a show of support for the Spaniard who had won just one game in the opening nine rounds of the Hyundai A-League season.

“I’m very happy for the players and for the fans,” Gombau said.

“We believe in what we are doing and that is important.

“The support I felt today in the stadium was very important for me,” he said.

'In Josep we trust'

The Mariners were their own worst enemies throughout the match as they failed to capitalise on the strong build-up play and chances carved in the opening 45 minutes.

Daniel McBreen and Trent Sainsbury were culpable for missing two gilt-edged chances in the 7th minute after United failed to deal with a corner. Sainsbury was all alone but his volley flew sideways into the path of McBreen whose shot looked destined to condemn the Reds to a 1-0 deficit before blasting it into row Z of Coopers Stadium.

Mariners coach Phil Moss said the Mariners’ early misses dented the side’s confidence.

“You can trace it back to some missed chances in the first half,” Moss said.

“I think in the first half alone we created enough chances to win a couple of games of football.

“It wasn’t anything that Adelaide did that broke us, it was more the fact that we didn’t take our chances when they were presented to us,” he said.

Adelaide took the lead in the 25th minute through Bruce Djite who latched onto a cross by Sergio Cirio from the left flank. The Mariners were caught on the back foot after Storm Roux was bundled over in possession however referee Ben Williams called play-on, allowing United to capitalise for Djite’s first goal of the season.

Cirio was at it again in the 40th minute as he served up the through-ball to Fabio Ferreira who finally made the Mariners pay with his third chance of the opening half. The Portuguese winger had initially fired high, wide and into the side-netting but managed to slide his third attempt on goal between Reddy’s legs to double United’s lead.

United’s third goal was borne of unusual circumstances as a long hoof upfield from Eugene Galekovic in the 55th minute caught Reddy on the back foot as Cirio pressured the ‘keeper. Instead of diving on the ball, Reddy attempted to shepherd it over the line for a Mariners goal-kick.

 Despite the ball appearing to cross the line, fleet-footed Cirio hooked the ball back into play around Reddy and slotted into an empty net. Substitute striker Jeronimo Neumann put the icing on the cake in the 90th minute with a side footed finish into the bottom corner after being played into a one-on-one with Reddy.

The match was just United’s second win of the season and displayed an adapted version of Gombau’s high-line, possession game-plan. The Reds shifted gears to match the moves of their opposition with the Spaniard giving his players the freedom to exploit the long ball when necessary.

Gombau said his side must adapt to whatever the opposition does to throw them off their short-passing, possession game.

“They see that we play from the back so they tried to press us up,” Gombau said.

“When they press up the space is in their half and we need to profit from this,” he said.



Adelaide United
Galekovic, McKain, Malik, Isaias, Cirio, Carrusca, Djite, Lustica, Zullo, Elrich, Ferreira
Subs:
Boogaard, Neumann, Barker-Daish, Kitto, Hall

Central Coast Mariners:
McBreen, Rose, Seip, Hutchison, Montgomery, Duke, Flores, Reddy, McGlinchey, Roux, Sainsbury
Subs:
Pasfield, Griffiths, Caceres, Simon, Sterjovski