Adelaide United hold off Newcastle Jets, 1-0

Newcastle Jets were denied a top three position as 2013 came to a close with Adelaide United winning 1-0 at the Coopers Stadium on Sunday. Bruce Djite’s put back goal in the 26th minute was enough to give all three points to the home team and end the calendar year on a nice note after a difficult start to the season in South Australia.

As usual, Adelaide passed the ball around the pitch with aplomb, though this match was more noted for it’s physical intensity than the stylish play. Four yellow cards were issued in just sixteen second half minutes and both coaches claimed the other was responsible for the rough play. Still, Adelaide’s movement was responsible for the build up to the game’s only goal and in Jake Barker-Daish’s shot that nearly made it 2-0 in the dying moments.

Adelaide will be heartened entering the new year with momentum and finally the majority of its players healthy and buying into Josep Gombau’s system. Newcastle, meanwhile, will brush off the away loss and regroup with a winnable home game against Perth Glory coming up next weekend. The Reds get a second straight home game, this time on Friday night against Sydney FC.

Scoring:

ADL Djite 26’

Line-ups:

Adelaide United: Galekovic; Zullo, Malik (Boogaard 77’), McKain, Elrich; Lustica, Isaias, Carrusca (Barker-Daish 69’); Cirio, Djite, Neumann (Mabil 77’)

Unused substitutes: Hall

Newcastle Jets: Birighitti; Gallaway (Goodwin 83’), Mitchell, Regan, Pepper; Zadkovich, Kantarovski; Burns (Brown 83’), Brillante, Hoole (Heskey 67’); Taggart

Unused substitutes: Kennedy, Caravella