Perth Glory remain top of the Hyundai A-League ladder after a cagey 0-0 draw with Adelaide United played out in unseasonably wet and cool conditions at nib Stadium.
In a game of few chances, it was the home side who came closest to breaking the deadlock right at the death when Joel Chianese narrowly failed to slide home Jason Davidson’s left-wing cross.
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It was the first time in over a year that Glory have been held scoreless at home and while Head Coach Tony Popovic felt that his side were not at their best, he was understandably pleased to see them keep a second consecutive clean sheet.
“It was a tough game in tough conditions,” he said.
“It was wet and windy and we thought it would come down to one goal. We’re disappointed we didn’t get it, but it’s another clean sheet.
“We looked very resilient in a game where our own game didn’t really flow. We were dangerous and were always a chance to score, even though it wasn’t our best game.
“No one really had a chance to get a foothold in the game, there was no time on the ball. It was a case of us restricting Adelaide and them restricting us.
“Now it’s about recovering from this game for Sunday. It’s going to be a difficult game but we’re going to make it difficult for Newcastle too”
Despite looking the more likely during the opening exchanges, it wasn’t until the 33rd minute that Glory managed to call Paul Izzo into action, the Reds ‘keeper getting down smartly to keep out a long-range strike from Dino Djulbic.
Izzo was in the thick of the action again moments later when he parried a left-foot effort from the livelyChianese, with Brendon Santalab just unable to force the loose ball home.
At the other end, meanwhile, Liam Reddy had little to do right up until the stroke of half time when he produced a double save to keep Craig Goodwin and then Ben Halloran at bay.
Glory’s Neil Kilkenny flashed a shot narrowly over the bar during what was an evenly-contested start to the second half, before a fine block from Djulbic prevented the in-form Goodwin from giving United the lead.
But while Marco Kurz’s side looked a threat on the break right up until the final whistle, it was Glory who applied the concerted late pressure and it looked as though the breakthrough had finally arrived four minutes into stoppage time.
A slick move culminated in Davidson firing in a superb ball across the face of goal, only for Chianese to miss sliding it home by a matter of centimetres as The Shed prepared to celebrate what surely would have been another late winner for the men in purple.
Match Details
Hyundai A-League 2018/19 Season Round 15
Perth Glory 0 Adelaide United 0
Half-time: 0-0
Attendance: 7213
Referee: Adam Kersey
Perth Glory: 33.Liam REDDY (gk), 2.Alex GRANT, 3.Jason DAVIDSON, 4.Shane LOWRY, 5.Ivan FRANJIC (23.Scott NEVILLE 78′), 6.Dino DJULBIC, 7.Joel CHIANESE, 11.Brendon SANTALAB (9.Andy KEOGH 66′), 20.Jake BRIMMER (17.Diego CASTRO 61′), 27.JUANDE, 88.Neil KILKENNY
Substitutes not used: 1.Tando VELAPHI (gk), 22.Fabio FERREIRA
Yellow cards: Grant
Red cards: Nil
Adelaide United: 20.Paul IZZO (gk), 2.Michael MARRONE, 3.Scott GALLOWAY (7.Ryan KITTO 77′), 4.Ryan STRAIN, 6.Vince LIA, 8.Isaías SÁNCHEZ (c), 11.Craig GOODWIN, 16.Nathan KONSTANDOPOULOS, 17.Nikola MILEUSNIĆ (10.Ken ILSØ, 66′), 23.Jordan ELSEY, 26.Ben HALLORAN
Substitutes not used: 1.Daniel MARGUŠ (gk), 14.George BLACKWOOD, 27.Louis D’ARRIGO
Yellow cards: Konstandopoulos, Elsey
Red cards: Nil
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