Roar and United play out goalless draw

A game where it looked just a matter of time for Queensland Roar to secure a convincing win against Adelaide United has somehow ended in a 0-0 draw at Suncorp Stadium on Friday night.

Despite trudging away with 10 men for more half an hour Adelaide defied logic and a white hot Queensland Roar and were able to steal a point away from home.

For the whole 90 minutes the home side dominated the match as much as any side has in the A-league's existence. The Roar set up a seemingly endless amount of chances and had Adelaide pinned on the back foot and in their own half for most of the game.

Strangely enough it was an Adelaide player who perhaps provided the most influential moments of the game. Chinese import Shengqing Qu first used his head to put a beautiful cross from Greg Owens over the cross bar, then in the second half used his head on Roar skipper Chad Gibson which brought about his dismissal.

Qu’s sending off did not bring any change of fortune for Queensland, as again they continued to surge toward the Adelaide goal but every time were unable to beat Robbie Bajic. Simon Lynch, the most dangerous player on the park, had the best opportunities to score and was always in the right position; however could never get a powerful strike on target.

Adelaide started poorly and never provided any quality service for their very experienced triumvirate of forwards in Qu, Fernando Rech and Carl Veart. Conversely the Roar had 70% of the possession thanks to their two hyenas in midfield Massimo Murdocca and Matt Mckay, who tirelessly won the central contests and drove the home team forward.

In the fifth minute Lynch should have put the Roar in front when found unmarked in the box, however could only trickle an attempt into Bajic’s gloves. Miron Bleiberg must have thought that last year’s curse of goal droughts had returned as a host of chances followed frequently throughout the match.

They were definitely out of luck when on the half hour Reinaldo de Costa was brought down by Reds defender Robert Cornthwaite, when the Brazilian looked to have been clear on to goal. Home cries for a booking were ignored and only Lynch found his way on the charge sheet for his over exuberant appealing.

For all its run and endeavour the Roar was a toothless Tiger in the last third, Lynch, Murdocca and Reinaldo were linking up beautifully, but could never really offer an attempt on goal that made Robbie Bajic have to dive to save.

Although Adelaide got played off the park, John Kosmina will take solace from his side’s ability to fight and take an away point. Roar will rue their missed opportunities and will no doubt be practicing a lot of shooting on the training track during the week.

Adelaide will be without Qu for their Labour Day clash with Sydney FC and Queensland head down to Melbourne for a top for the match of the week against the unbeaten Victory.

After the game Bleiberg said there were many pluses to take from the game despite the goalless draw.

“I am very proud of my players because we played well and tried to play good positive football. I said before the game that Adelaide United were the benchmark in season one and I think you have seen tonight that we are at least as good as Adelaide.

“We can’t be too disappointed as we have kept another clean sheet and we have plenty of positives to take from this game.”

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