Sydney took the lead through Reza Ghoochannedjad, the Iranian cooly slotting home his first A-League goal after a pristine series of one-touch passes from the Sky Blues.

Adelaide pressed and had several chances to round out the first half, before resuming with momentum in the second.

But the Reds were ultimately outdone by a classy Sydney outfit and a similarly clinical finish from Cameron Devlin on the 92nd minute to round out the 2-0 scoreline.

Ultimately Steve Corica's side, who showed they have an element of flair to match their grinding results, consolidate second place while Adelaide remain three points clear of Wellington in sixth, at least for now.

"We kept the ball really well, moved them, scored one which was great and in the second half, we sat too deep and let Adelaide push forward too much, but it showed a different string in our bow," Alex Wilkinson said.

"We can grind out results and there's a lot of football to be played, funny things can happen.

"We go one game at a time and if Perth Glory win seven games then it's done, but until then we keep fighting."

Former Sydney man George Blackwood, who is beginning to find his feet as a supporting striker in the A-League throughout a tough run for Marco Kurz's side, insisted his team wasn't panicking.

"We had a makeshift back five today so that disrupted things, but we're getting some good chances so that's a positive," Blackwood said.

"We're not concerned (about missing finals), we're moving towards the next game."