Adelaide United end Melbourne Victory's unbeaten A-League run

Updated: May 17, 2023, 05:25 am

Adelaide United ended Melbourne Victory's nine-match unbeaten run with a pulsating 2-0 win at Coopers Stadium.

First-half goals to Craig Goodwin and Ken Ilso were enough for Adelaide to hand the visitors their first loss since round two on Wednesday night. It also marked the first home win for the Reds against their fierce rivals in their last seven meetings at Hindmarsh.

Victory looked less than convincing in defence with the makeshift central pair of Thomas Deng and Leigh Broxham and it was the latter who gifted United their first chance after just three minutes. A misplaced pass saw Ben Halloran collect the loose ball and charge towards goal only for his shot to be saved by Lawrence Thomas.

The Reds dominated the opening exchanges and deservedly broke the deadlock on 19 minutes after Isaias robbed James Troisi in midfield. Adelaide's captain played a neat one-two with Halloran before slicing Victory's defence with a through ball which was met by Nikola Mileusnic who whipped in a low cross for Goodwin to tuck away at the far post.

Two minutes later and the Reds doubled their lead after more sloppy defending from Victory saw Ilso strip Deng of the ball and race through on goal before slotting under Thomas, who probably could have done more to keep it out.

Ola Toivonen had the visitors' best chance just after the half hour, hammering a 20-metre free kick towards the bottom corner before Reds keeper Paul Izzo expertly tipped it past the post.

Adelaide scored two quick goals midway through the first half to beat Melbourne Victory.
James Elsby/Getty Images

Victory lifted after the interval and wasted a glorious chance to draw level five minutes into the second half. Kosta Barbarouses picked up a poor clearance from Scott Galloway but couldn't find a way past the onrushing Izzo.

United absorbed the visitors' pressure and looked to play on the counter while Victory upped intensity. Terry Antonis nearly pulled a goal back just after the hour when the Reds failed to clear the ball out of the defence but the midfielder's shot cannoned back off the cross bar.

Adelaide almost extended their lead soon after with a swift counter attack involving Ryan Strain and Mileusnic but Thomas kept out the shot from Halloran. The home side had another chance almost immediately after but again Thomas denied Halloran and the follow up effort from substitute Ryan Kitto.