By Joey Lynch
Adelaide United skipper Craig Goodwin says his side was lucky to salvage a point from one of the most dramatic games in A-League Men history on Sunday evening, a 4-4 draw with Perth Glory featuring three goals in stoppage time.
As the 90 minutes expired at Perth’s HBF Park on Sunday evening, Ryan Kitto looked set to end up as the match-winner for the Reds, with his 78th-minute strike giving his side a 3-2 lead.
Ryan Kitto of Adelaide controls the ball at HBF Park.Credit: Paul Kane/Getty Images
But Adam Zimarino’s refusal to give up on a chance saw him bring the game back to parity in the 93rd minute, before Adam Taggart’s storming run and shot three minutes later placed the hosts in an unlikely ascendancy.
Yet it was Nestory Irankunda who would have the final say, with the young phenomenon finding a yard of space in Glory’s penalty box in the 99th minute and threading a shot beyond Cameron Cook.
“To be 3-2 up and to concede two really sloppy goals from the small details is very frustrating,” Goodwin told Network Ten.
“In the end, we were lucky to get a point out of the game, we should never get to that stage.”
Glory coach Ruben Zadkovich was understandably rueful over his side’s late concession.
“Disappointed, there’s such a small period of time left to defend the lead after we finally hit the lead at the right time,” he said.
Returning home with a point, Carl Vearts’ side remains second on the table heading into the league’s final round but now has just a one-point lead over third-placed Central Coast and fourth-placed Western Sydney.
The Mariners will travel to Hindmarsh Stadium to play the Reds on Friday evening, kicking off at the same time as the Wanderers play away against premiers Melbourne City at AAMI Park.
Glory, meanwhile, are three points behind sixth-placed Wellington, with their clearest path to finals football a Phoenix loss to Macarthur on Saturday afternoon followed by a two-goal win over Western United later that evening.
Trent Ostler and Nestory Irankunda contest for the ball. Credit: Paul Kane/Getty Images
In a series of thrusts and counter-thrusts, Luka Jovanovic erased Ryan Williams’ 32nd-minute opener for Glory before Craig Goodwin made it 2-1 to Adelaide after 52 minutes, only for Taggart to equalise on the hour.
Meeting Goodwin’s cross-cum-shot, Kitto seemingly then won it, only for the stoppage-time madness to unfold.
“Defending seems to be a dying art for a few young people and they’ve got to learn the hard way,” Zadkovich said.
“The defending wasn’t great; there was a bit of the good, the bad, and the ugly.”
AAP
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