With finals on the horizon both teams were looking to find some form.  With Adelaide’s new owners looking on anonymously like shadowy overlords the home players were keen to impress and dominated the first 15 minutes.

The player movements between these clubs has given this fixture a bit of fire recently and tonight’s game was no exception. Melbourne City were able to weather the storm and launch attacks of their own. One of these resulted in a missed penalty and Adelaide took the lead in first half stoppage time.

Melbourne City managed to draw level early in the second half and from there the game petered out into a stalemate.  

Adelaide United

Paul Izzo – 7.5

He did his homework on Bruno Fornaroli and it paid off with a strong penalty save. However, he won’t want to see replays of Stefan Mauk’s goal.

Michael Marrone – 5.5

Another right fullback who will have nightmares about Daniel Arzani. It was a tough night for Marrone but he made the effort to close down Arzani further away from the box and this gave him a lot more ground to concede to the youngster.  

Ersam Gulum – 6.5

Another strong performance from the big centre half. If he hadn’t have traitorously defected to Turkey, he might be in Socceroo contention.

Jordan Elsey – 4

He’s made some excellent tackles this season but tonight he made some shockers. Gave away the penalty and nearly was reckless on Arzani. He was a little lucky to still be on the pitch.

Ben Garuccio – 6

Was involved in a few good overlapping plays particularly in the first 15 minutes. But like a lot of the players who stood out in the first half he didn’t maintain those high standards.

Isaias – 7 

Some moments of brilliance saw him stand out but he also goes missing more than he used to. Seems to be holding himself further back in the Adelaide formation, this must be on the coach’s orders but his team could use a few forward runs from the classy Spaniard/nearly Aussie.

Daniel Adlung – 6 

Had a few good moments that included some lovely forward passes.

Nathan Konstandopoulos – 6 

Was heavily involved early but suffered when his team couldn’t keep uo the pressure. He was a big part of some good early attacks but missed a few key passes as fatigue set in.

Johan Absalonsen – 7.5 

Coming back from injury is tough but scoring on your return makes it a lot easier. He looked comfortable with the pace of the game and will be a great asset for the Reds come finals time.

Nikola Mileusnic – 7.5 

He has improved in leaps and bounds this season. He was excellent in the first half but faded out a little bit towards the end of the game. But it’s a pleasure to see him adding some intelligent passing and good vision to his electric pace.   

Dzengis Cavusevic – 5

Didn’t get many chances to shine and his influence on the game was minor. Young George Blackwood should win back his spot if Cavusevic serves up more performances like this.

Subs

Ryan Kitto – 5 

Couldn’t make an impact off the bench.  

George Blackwood – 6 

Made a nuisance of himself in his cameo. Should be able to force himself back into the starting eleven.

Ryan Strain – 6 

Put a lovely ball through in his brief spell.  

Melbourne City

Dean Bouzanis –  6

Nothing he could do for the Adelaide goal and his distribution was an improvement on recent weeks.

Scott Jamieson – 7

One of the few players in this game who got better as the game went on, not worse. He was instrumental in fashioning the equaliser after a powerful run at the defence.

Bart Schenkenveld – 6

He absolutely nullified Adelaide’s new number 9. Cavusevic simply couldn’t break free from the pacey centre half.  

Michael Jakobsen –  6

Worked well with Schenkenveld as more of a screener and he cut out or simply prevented with his presence a lot of balls into Cavusevic.  

Nathanial Atkinson – 7

With Daniel Arzani bursting into the spotlight, Atkinson has fallen off the radar as a young star but this is completely unwarranted. He has been terrific since returning from injury and tonight he was excellent.

Luke Brattan –  7

He said in his post-match interview that he needs to be more consistent but he mustn’t know what that word means. He’s been consistently brilliant for several seasons now. His ability to see and execute difficult passes is fantastic and was on constant display tonight. He would still be in Europe if his club coach there hadn’t have been a moron.  

Oliver Bozanic – 5

Popped up a couple of times in good positions but over the course of the game he underwhelmed.

Stefan Mauk –  6 

Tidy finish. The rest of his game wasn’t as tidy. Misplaced a few passes and missed a chance to put in a second goal.

Dario Vidosic – 6.5 

Had a really good first half and almost singlehandedly dragged his team back into the game. He won a penalty and was a menace to the Adelaide defence. Then he basically disappeared.  

Daniel Arzani –  7

People are right to be excited about this kid. He was outstanding yet again. On anti-bullying day he could lodge a case against the referee. On several occasions he should have been awarded the foul but his reputation for diving prejudiced the decisions.

Bruno Fornaroli – 5.5

Hopefully el tuna can find some form and some luck. Tonight just wasn’t his night.

Subs

Nick Fitzgerald – 5

Will need to show more from the bench if he’s to get anywhere near the starting eleven again.

Manny Muscat –  5.5

Solid defensive back up for young Atkinson. Has nowhere near Atkinson’s skill, vision and influence on the game.