Adelaide United jettisoned their poor A-League form and beat Asian champions Pohang Steelers 1-0 at home at Hindmarsh Stadium in the Asian Champions League tonight.
Matthew Leckie, who was playing in the Victorian State League a year ago, scored the goal in the third minute of stoppage time at the end of the first half.
He collected the ball well inside his own half and ran the length of the pitch before a Steelers defender’s attempted clearance cannoned off Leckie’s foot and into the net from the 6-yard line.
Marcos Flores, Adelaide’s Argentinian signing, had an excellent match.
His vision, passing and technical skills showed that Argentina rather than Brazil might be worth a look in the future for potential A-League signings.
Steelers had three Brazilians on view, but they were unable to make any impact on the game.
Sergio Van Dijk, recently signed from Brisbane Roar, was also in good form for Adelaide and went close to scoring on a couple of occasions.
There were 38 fouls in the match - 24 by Adelaide and 14 by Pohang.
The corner count was 4-3 in favour of Pohang, who had much more of the possession than the home side.
Adelaide’s next match is an away fixture in China.
