Adelaide United pummelled Victory into submission at Hindmarsh Stadium to start off the A-League round, with Jeronimo Neumann’s 40th minute header proving the decider.

Melbourne

Coe’s Performance
A recurring theme in Coe’s short A-League career is his quality as a stopper, but not one to dominate his area and confidently claim the ball. He got caught in two minds as a peach of a Dario Vidosic cross found its way to Jeronimo Neumann, Coe was late on it. Admittedly, this point wouldn’t appear if Leigh Broxham had extra height on him and cleared the cross, in a tight game it proved costly.

Missing Milligan
Called on for Socceroos duty in a midweek fixture against Romania, Milligan’s absence and its effect would have and should have Victory fans worried. No-one has the understanding of the system and midfield like Milligan; it was laid bare on Friday. Whilst Ange’s sentiments of ‘when your country calls, you answer’ is a welcome one, what could Holger Osieck have possibly learned about him that wasn’t known before. Surely either of Mustafa Amini, Erik Paartalu and Tom Rogic would have liked a call?

Mixed results on youth
Scott Galloway, Connor Pain, Francesco Stella and Jesse Makarounas all saw significant gametime on Friday, all had differing experiences and results but all with the same conclusion. They’re not ready for full-time senior football yet. Pain replaced Archie Thompson after 30 minutes and wanted to be the attacking outlet whenever he could, the most promising in the Victory effort.

Beaten
The first shot on goal came midway through the second half and that tells the sorry story. Kicked and clawed at by their inhospitable hosts all night, Victory had no answer to it. No passes stuck because they weren’t allowed and the defence was under pressure and the midfield offered no support for Flores.  While the attempts were there, they were outdone by the Reds midfield.

Traore’s Red
In real-time and reflection, it was a harsh call against the in-form fullback. Traore’s studs briefly showed and he got off the ground, but didn’t make full contact on his opponent. There is always a risk when that happens, but a yellow would have sufficed. His absence will leave a gaping hole in defence.

Adelaide

Kicking and clawing
The Reds have been an oft-discussed topic in recent weeks, and not necessarily in positive terms after the departure of John Kosmina. Kicked around and been the subject of questioning off-field, Adelaide decided to kick back on-field. The approach taken by Michael Valkanis is an understandable one, the first task as a caretaker has to be making his team hard to beat and that happened, every tackle stuck as they pushed the rules. Given the circumstances, can you blame them?

Midfield and attack: woes masked?
When you aim to disrupt the opposition and shut them down completely, the worry is your rhythm is disrupted in return. Worrying for Adelaide in Kosmina’s final games was a weak midfield, with teams running at an inadequately covered Osama Malik. Carrusca and Vidosic pushed up, while Kosmina and Kostopoulos supported wide defenders, there was a balanced effort. Whether or not this was simply an emotional, one-off, derby only performance or a trend is the question.

McKain’s performance
Shielding the back four in holding midfield, McKain was central in everything carried out by the home side. Able to distribute the ball, the former Socceroo would lead the effort to get it back. If the strategy worked on by Valkanis is going to be carried, you need a central figure and gave that responsibility. Where has he been all season?

Second half caution
When five players are booked in a half, caution needs to be taken in almost every single challenge from then on. Play opened up marginally in the second half as Adelaide needed to look out. The concentration to the task was admirable, it needed to be.

The great wall of Hindmarsh
Credit has to be given to the back four of Malik, Cassio, Antony Golec and Iain Fyfe. Malik looked suited to a new right-back position, Cassio was aggressive on his flank and Golec and Fyfe gave nothing away all night. They never were troubled by their visitors, the most comfortable they have looked in weeks.