A united Newcastle Jets suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat to Adelaide United at Coopers Stadium on Sunday.
Marcelo Carrusca’s 43rd minute goal was all that separated the two sides in the City of Churches.
The Jets, missing captain Nigel Boogaard through suspension and midfielder Ben Kantarovski through soreness, as well as David Carney who was omitted for the contest, pushed the Reds on their home patch and created several decent opportunities in the first half to take the lead.
Enver Alivodic will feel that he should have done more with his chance in the 21st minute of play. After receiving a pass from fellow Serbian attacker Milos Trifunovic, Alivodic dragged his effort from a good area wide of Eugene Galekovic’s goal.
Ten minutes before the interval Scott Miller’s men had a series of chances to break the deadlock, however some desperate defending from Adelaide’s backline blocked on target efforts from Alivodic and silky Brazilian Leonardo.
Newcastle were made to pay for their missed opportunities with two minutes to play in first half when Carrusca thundered home an effort from close range after Bruce Djite’s cross was deflected into the path of the Argentine ace.
Eight minutes after the interval Trifunovic sent a header just wide of the mark following a great ball in from Leonardo, while two minutes after that significant shouts for a penalty were waved away by referee Ben Williams after Ryan Kitto was tripped in the box by Dylan McGowan.
During the second stanza Miller introduced new signing’s Steven Ugarkovic and Morten Nordstrand into the encounter – each made their Jets debuts.
While Ugarkovic and Nordstrand looked lively in their cameos from the bench, unfortunately Newcastle couldn’t manage to fashion another clear cut opportunity to restore parity to the contest as the Reds held on to win at home.
Newcastle Jets will play their next match at Hunter Stadium next Sunday against Melbourne City.
Tickets for the club’s Hyundai A-League 2015/16 round 18 fixture can be purchased here.
Adelaide United 1 (Carrusca 43’)
Newcastle Jets 0
Coopers Stadium, Adelaide
Attendance: 12,434
Referee: Ben Williams
Newcastle Jets: 1. Mark Birighitti (Gk), 2. Daniel Mullen, 3. Jason Hoffman, 6. Cameron Watson (16. Steven Ugarkovic 65’), 7. Enver Alivodic, 8. Mateo Poljak (C), 9. Milos Trifunovic, 10. Leonardo (19. Morten Nordstrand 73’), 22. Lachlan Jackson, 24. Nicholas Cowburn, 28. Ryan Kitto (14. Mitch Cooper 80’)
Substitutes not used: 20. Ben Kennedy (Gk), 27. Braedyn Crowley
Yellow cards: Trifunovic, Kitto, Cowburn, Leonardo
Red cards: Nil
Adelaide United: 1. Eugene Galekovic (Gk), 3. Iacopo La Rocca, 4. Dylan McGowan, 7. Pablo Sanchez (9. Sergio Cirio 60’), 8. Isaias, 10. Marcelo Carrusca, 11. Bruce Djite, 14. George Mells (6. Stefan Mauk 89’), 16. Craig Goodwin, 21. Tarek Elrich, 23. Jordan Elsey (2. Michael Marrone 78’)
Substitutes not used: 17. Mate Dugandzic, 20. John Hall (Gk)
Yellow cards: Isaias
Red cards: Nil
