Match Report: Adelaide United 0-2 MetroStars

The Round 9 fixture between Adelaide United and MetroStars was played on a bitterly cold Saturday afternoon at Jack Smith Park. MetroStars were beginning to build some momentum and The Reds on the back of 2 wins and 2 draws would look to continue with their form.

8 minutes into the game Adelaide United had the first chance when Yaya Dukuly put in a very dangerous cross that clipped the crossbar as it went sailing through the box.

6 minutes later MetroStats missed a strong chance. Piol received a long ball off a turnover and put Dylan Smith through for a 1 on 1. He somehow managed to put the ball wide of the goal.

The away side continued their dominance with multiple strong chances, however they were unable to challenge the goalkeeper.

21 minutes in, MetroStars put themselves ahead when Christian Esposito managed to slot the ball past the opposition ‘keeper.

At halftime MetroStars were clearly dominating, having 8 shots to 3, including 4 on target.

8 minutes after the break Fabian Barbiero took a shot from 40 yards away that left the goalkeeper scrambling back to tip the ball over the crossbar.

From the proceeding corner the ball was played to Hamish Gow at the edge of the penalty area, where he then put in a cross aimed at the back post. No one was able to get a touch on it and the keeper was left with no other option than to watch as it squeezed inside the goal.

This put the away side up 2-nil after 54 minutes, leaving The Reds with an uphill battle.

4 minutes after MetroStars again went close when Cooper O’Donnell squared the ball to Dylan Smith 18 yards out, however, he could only manage a shot that just cleared the bar.

Half way through the second half it seemed Adelaide United would get a goal back.

A corner was struck in from Ethan Alagich who took a shot from the edge of the penalty area. He shot at the near post and it hit the post as Isaac Carmody was left scrambling.

A minute later MetroStars should have put the game out of reach when Smith beat his defender and whipped in a cross from the left hand side. Somehow, none of the 2 attackers could get a touch on the ball and direct it at goal.

77 minutes in it looked as though Nestor Irankunda would have a contender for goal of the season when he sent a looping volley from 20 yards out at the goals. It looked destined for the top right corner, however it painstakingly went over.

After 5 minutes of injury time the game was ended, leaving the away side up 2-nil. The away side ended with 16 shots to 8, 6 to 4 on target.

This was a super strong performance from MetroStars who now have 3 wins in their last 4 games and find themselves in 5th place, only 3 points behind leaders Adelaide City.

The next game will be their Round 7 FFA Cup game against Adelaide City on Wednesday night. This is a huge match as the winner will be going into the final stages of the competition.