Pantelis sees Reds home in dying minutes

A last-minute winner by Lucas Pantelis drove Adelaide United to a 2-1 victory over the Queensland Roar in this evening's A-League match at Suncorp Stadium.

The win for the Reds hoists them back into first place for at least a day, after sliding in recent weeks following losses to Sydney FC and the Newcastle Jets.

While the visitors had fewer chances at goal, Queensland dominated the forays forward in the first half, though, Adelaide still looked the stronger side all evening.

Unlike their 2-4 loss last week to the Jets, which saw their defence in disarray most of the evening, the Reds were able to hinder most Roar challenges before they became a serious threat.

Adelaide United coach John Kosmina was pleased with the way his team had bounced back on their defensive line, particularly after last week, admitting that the Roar had "got in behind us (Adelaide) a couple of times", but noted that his defence had held their shape really well when forcing the Roar to hurry their forays forward.

Miron Bleiberg, Queensland coach, conceded that although his team's overall effort wasn't bad, they "were not good enough to win the game."

"We played against an experienced side," Bleiberg said.

"They (Adelaide) knew what they were doing - had fewer chances, (though), put two of them away," he said.

While Queensland had seemingly more of the ball in the opening of the game, Adelaide seemed unfazed as the game was being played on their terms.

The Roar continued to pepper the goals throughout the first half, but despite having twice as many shots on goal, Daniel Beltrame and the United defence were unable to be beaten – the score level nil-all at the half.

The visitors broke the dead-lock and silenced the 15,181-strong crowd in the 59th-minute when Fernando Rech's header found its way past Roar keeper Scott Higgins.

As has been a common tendency for the Reds in previous weeks – the opposition scoring almost immediately after them – the trend looked to continue when Osvaldo Carro near 30-yard shot looked on target, though, narrowly went wide.

However, the Roar eventually found the equaliser. Royce Brownlie was substituted in the 72nd-minute and after being on the field for only four minutes, made an immediate impression when he found the back of the net.

The final minutes were frenetic – both teams struggling vigorously to break the dead-lock.

Spase Dilevski sent in a cross for Queensland's best chance, but it was denied by the Adelaide defence.

With only a minute before injury time, Adelaide attacked profusely – the barrage of goal-attempts were being blocked by the Roar defence, including the post, but Pantelis eventually found a path to goal and the Reds a path to victory.

Next week, Adelaide United meet Melbourne Victory in what is expected to be a fiery Olympic Park encounter on Friday night, while the Queensland Roar clash with Perth Glory on Saturday night on home soil.

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