Hersi The Hero In 4-2 Wanderers Win In Adelaide

Youssouf Hersi scored a brace, with Mark Bridge and Mateo Poljak also getting past Eugene Galekovic as the Western Sydney Wanderers secured 3rd place in a high scoring affair in Adelaide.

The first match of Adelaide under new manager Michael Valkanis opened with Adelaide United energetically pressing the Wanderers high up the pitch. Hersi had the first shot of the game from an Adelaide turnover, it was deflected out for a corner by the Adelaide defence. The pressing disrupted the rhythm of the away side, in particular Shinji Ono was isolated and unable to get onto the ball. The pressure caused the Wanderers to turn the ball over on numerous occasions, but their defensive organisation meant that despite losing the ball, very few chances were created, Adelaide were unable to notch up even a single shot off or on target in the first 30 minutes.

The spell of dominance continued as Boogaard earned the first yellow card of the contest for cutting down Dino Kresinger as he powered through toward goal. The commentary suggested that a through ball to Hersi was on but there was a covering defender in between who would likely have cleaned up any such attempted. Aaron Mooy stepped up to deliver what many would know as a "Ronaldo" style free kick, attempting to remove the spin from the ball, which Mooy did quite well, the ball dipped and swerved and forced Galekovic into a two fisted punch clear.

Two of the smallest players on the field, Hersi and Ono, each had their own headers saved by Galekovic, Ono getting on the end of a Kresinger flick-on after a long-throw, Hersi from a cross to the far post. The game started to turn back to Adelaide's favour, Iain Ramsay was played with a nice flick by Evan Kostopoulous, Ramsay had a very narrow angle to work with and his shot trickled around the far post.

The game turned yet again for the last 10 minutes of the half, the momentum shift was marked by Hersi, having cut inside, finding Mark Bridge centrally, the left winger managed to work the ball around his marker, it found Kresinger's outstretched foot and went just over the bar. Adelaide's inability to clear the ball finally told against them for the opening goal, scored at the end of an action that would be better described as a goalmouth omelette rather than a goalmouth scramble based on how long it took to complete.

Just minutes later the Wanderers were two up. Mooy's pass was slightly heavy and it dragged Hersi wide to the far right edge of the Adelaide penalty area. The winger tracked the ball down, ran at Cassio and delivered a cut-back to Mark bridge who struck a first time shot on his right foot from the penalty spot. Galekovic managed to get a hand up in an attempt to block but the shot was powerful enough to beat the forlorn keeper. As the half-time whistle blew a chorus of booing rang out across the stadium, audible protestations at the perceived lack of effort from the men in red.

Having seen his team concede two very late goals, Valkanis made a change at the break by withdrawing Daniel Bowles in favour of adding Bruce Djite up front. Despite this change it was Western Sydney had made the running in the early stages of the second half, Hersi being put through on goal. Galekovic came sweeping on the edge of his box and swatted an attempted lob out for a throw-in, the intervention vital as Hersi would have scored into an open goal. It was Galekovic again denying Hersi, as Bridge again put Hersi on goal, the first touch brought down the chipped ball and the second was blocked by the keeper. Adelaide opened their shooting account in the 49th minute, Boogaard hitting a header straight at Ante Covic.

Just as it seemed Adelaide might be making their way back into the match, Western Sydney marched down the field and put Adelaide to the sword for a third time. Adelaide turned the ball over in midfield, which allowed Hersi to find Ono. Spreading the ball wide to Bridge, he had acres of space to pick his cross. Ignoring the obvious option of Kresinger in the middle he found Hersi unmarked at the back post as Cassio was caught ball watching. Hersi was a yard out and couldn't miss with his head.

Ante Covic stood tall to keep the score at 3-0, Boogaard leapt high, attacking a corner and heading the ball with no pressure. Covic reacted in a flash to turn the ball over the bar, and followed that by clearing the ball with a punch from the next Adelaide corner. He could do nothing about the next major chance for Adelaide. Bruce Djite had the ball back to goal, was allowed to turn by Iacopo La Rocca. Then came what some would call a speculative effort, 20 yards out after turning toward goal. The shot skidded along the ground, past Covic and nestled into the far corner.

Time ran down further and further, the 86th minute saw a 2nd for Adelaide, Iain Ramsay drifted into the box and picked up the second ball from a cluster of players around the penalty spot. An innovative finish with the outside of his left foot curled past Covic and threatened a grandstand finish. However very little action followed the 6th goal of the game and Western Sydney closed it out as 4-2 victors. One final sour note was a disgraceful tackle by Iain Fyfe on Appiah-Kubi, with the ball well past, Fyfe deliberately kicked out at Kubi, the ball so far away it could not be considered at all a challenge for the ball and to many observers should have been punished with a straight red card for violent conduct. The challenge typified Adelaide's performance on the day, constantly chasing but not being good enough to catch the Wanderers.

A very good game to watch, there were periods of dominance for both teams as well as many tactical shifts and changes that caused the flow of the game to adjust in response. Tony Popovic would be very happy as his team's ability to score, but would be less than pleased at switching off defensively in concession of the goals against his squad. Shinji Ono took a knock to his hip that may require examination during the week, but it didn't appear serious once he'd left the field.

The Wanderers next match is against Newcastle Jets at Campbelltown Stadium, Campbelltown, on Saturday the 9th of February at 7:45pm Eastern Daylight Savings Time.