Reds’ skipper Stefan Mauk led from the front as Adelaide United defeated Melbourne City 2-0 after a costly red card.
As soon as referee Alireza Faghani blew his whistle, both sides were engaged in an arm wrestle. City expressed their desire to draw first blood within the opening ten minutes, but Jamie Maclaren was denied by an exceptional James Delianov save.
Delianov once again came to the rescue for the Reds when young City midfielder Marcus Tilio hit a blistering long-range shot that was tipped over the bar.
Neither team was willing to back down from a challenge and Melbourne’s Connor Metcalfe was the first to receive a yellow card for a strong tackle on Mauk.
Adelaide youngster Yaya Dukuly was lively in the first half, but could not hit the scoreboard despite some close efforts on goal.
Ryan Strain was frustrating Melbourne’s front three with some quality defending before he succumbed to a hamstring injury and was replaced by Michael Marrone in the 36th minute.
After a tight start to the second half, Melbourne City skipper, Scott Jamieson put his side in a compromising position after he received his second yellow card for a clumsy challenge on Dukuly.
United went on to capitalise off a set-piece when Socceroo Tomi Juric blasted a shot into the bottom of the net to give Adelaide a 1-0 advantage.
It did not take long for Adelaide to hit the back of the net again when a deflected Mauk shot beat City ‘keeper Tom Glover during the 76th minute.
Jamie Maclaren nearly pulled one back for the visitors in added time, but narrowly missed the far right post.
Despite a tense first half, Jamieson’s dismissal enabled Adelaide to break away from their opponents and secure a comfortable 2-0 win. United improved to second on the table while City dropped to sixth.
Adelaide United: 2 ( Tomi Juric 66′, Stefan Mauk 76′)
Melbourne City: 0
Adelaide United: James Delianov (GK), Ryan Strain (Marrone 36′), Noah Smith, Jordan Elsey, Michael Jakobsen, Louis D’Arrgio, Stefan Mauk (Konstandopoulos 83′), Joe Calletti, Tomi Juric (Toure 71′), Ben Halloran (Yengi 82′), Yaya Dukuly (Niyongabire 71′)
Substitutes: Dakota Oschenham, Michael Marrone, George Timotheou, Nathan Konstandopoulos, Pacifique Niyongabire, Mohamed Toure, Kusini Yengi
Melbourne City: Tom Glover (GK), Ben Garrucio, Scott Jamieson, Rostyn Griffiths, Curtis Good, Aiden O’Neill (Tsubaki 84′), Florin Berenguer (Colakovski 68′), Marco Tilio (Galloway 54′), Jamie Maclaren, Connor Metcalfe, Craig Noone (Gomulka 83′)
Substitutes: Taleb Ahmad, Scott Galloway, Kerrin Stokes, Stefan Colakovski, Taras Gomulka, Raphael Borges Rodrigues, Naoki Tsubaki
Referee: Alireza Faghani
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