A tad over 19000 fans attended Round 3 of the Hyundai A league 2017/18 season in Adelaide, which saw eternal enemies Adelaide United and Melbourne Victory continue their physical rivalry. This being Adelaide’s first home game of the season and coming off a great win and draw from their first two outings, the crowd was a little dull. Perhaps time for United to stick to playing at Coopers, a smaller stadium/sold out, provides much more of a spectacle…if only Reds fans could emulate the RBB of Western Sydney then Coopers would be a rocking football cauldron.
On to what was a physical match that ended 2-2. Victory stole the lead early in the 13th with a pin point header from Mad Man Berisha off a victory free kick. Vinnie Lia the man who emailed all A-league clubs at the end of last season and was given a lifeline by the Red,s saved the day by equalizing in the 23rd and 62nd minute…both thunderbolt strikes, the first with his left foot, victory keeper Thomas could only watch, as both flew into the back of his net.
The Victory would draw level in the 82nd through newly substituted Austin and the match finished 2-2. Split points was a fair result in a heated contest, but both sides seemed to lack firepower up front this time as the shots on goal count was low from both sides. The Reds need to regroup and get ready for a FFA semi-final Tuesday night in Sydney and the Victory will head to the Central Coast, looking to get there first win of the new season. With contentious issues in the game involving Berisha and Williams, the VAR system needs a review or more power given to it, so that the umpires can clamp down on incidents immediately.
Player of the match Vince Lia…the emailing midfielder proving there is life after 30.
Match report by Cosi Dicheira
No Comments