Adelaide United dominated minor premiers Melbourne Victory but was unable to convert its dominance into goals in the first leg of the major semi final played at Hindmarsh Stadium on Sunday evening. The game ended in a scoreless draw leaving the tie wide open for the return game in Melbourne next week.
Adelaide named an unchanged team from the side that defeated Central Coast 3-1 last week. Melbourne Victory made two changes to its side that was thrashed 4-0 by Newcastle last week. Into the side came Simon Storey and Steve Pantelidis at the expense of Alessandro and Lia.
Adelaide kicked off the game and immediately dominated possession. In only the 3rd minute Petta picked out Dodd who cut a low ball into the box into the path of midfielder Diego. With the goal at his mercy Diego flashed the ball over the bar from the middle of the penalty area.
A minute later Melbourne survived a penalty scare when Adrian Leijer appeared the handle the ball inside his penalty area.
Alagich went close to opening the scoring for Adelaide in the 13th minute when he was given space outside the box and hit a long range shot that flew just past the upright.
Adelaide's hopes suffered an early blow in the 20th minute when Bobby Petta was forced off the field due to injury. Spagnuolo came in for Petta.
Adelaide continued to dominate possession for the remainder of the half but chances became scarce as Melbourne defended with numbers. Aloisi hit a speculative shot from the edge of the penalty area in the 31st minute requiring a comfortable save from Theoklitos. Nathan Burns glanced a header just wide of the post in the 37th minute and Fernando skimmed the crossbar with a header in the 42nd minute.
At half time the scoreline remaind locked at 0-0. The statistics told the story with Adelaide having seven shots at goal compared to one for Melbourne (an Archie Thompson overhead kick that was more of a threat to the cars parked outside the stadium than the Adelaide goal) and taking five corners compared to zero for Melbourne.
It was more of the same in the second half with Adelaide continuing to control the midfield and Melbourne sitting back in its own half.
It was not until the 49th minute that Adelaide put the Melbourne goal under threat. Diego knocked a great long ball into the path of the Dodd who outpaced the Melbourne defence. With three Adelaide United players queuing up in the box, Dodd managed to pick out a Melbourne Victory defender with this low cross and the opportunity was lost.
Two minutes later Dodd was back in the thick of things again after Costanzo picked him out with a long ball. Dodd whipped in a cross but once again picked out a Melbourne defender. The ball was cleared only as far as Dodd who had a second bite at the cherry. This time his cross went deep to the back post forcing Theoklitos to deflect the ball out for a corner.
Adelaide kept up the pressure with Melbourne struggling to get out of its own half. But while Adelaide might have been dominating the middle of the park it was getting little joy upfront with Melbourne looking very resolute at the back.
Travis Dodd hit a speculative long drive goalwards in the 63rd minute forcing a save from Theoklitos.
A few minutes later young Nathan Burns made way for another youngster in Bruce Djite - an swap between two of the most promising youngsters in Australian football.
Adelaide continued dominating possession for the remainder of the half- maintaining 65% possession compared to 35% for Melbourne - however neither side was able to fashion anything worthy of being called a half chance for the remainder of the game. At the final whistle the score line was unchanged at 0-0.
The result leaves the tie wide open with both sides having all to play for in the return leg in Melbourne. It was an outcome that would not have pleased either coach. Adelaide would have wanted to score at home whereas Melbourne wanted an away goal - instead both teams came away empty handed from the first leg.
Some would argue the result swings the advantage towards Melbourne. However as convincing minor premiers, Melbourne were always favourite to win the major semi-final and the outcome of the first leg has done little to change that. It has increased the pressure on Melbourne because of the high cost associated with conceding an away goal.
Adelaide coach John Kosmina will be pleased with the way his side dominated the game but disappointed at their inability to convert the possession into goals. The injury to Bobby Petta will be another concern for Kosmina but his loss is counter balanced by the return of Greg Owens from suspension. Melbourne coach Ernie Merrick may be pleased with the result on paper but he should be disappointed with his sides performance in all areas of the park outside the defence. Captain Kevin Muscat is struggling while the sparkle has faded for strikers Thompson and Allsop. Melbourne have gone the full month of January without a win - not the typical form of a championship side.
Adelaide's Angelo Costanzo was man of the match with an outstanding performance in the centre of defence. Fellow defenders Valkanis, Alagich and Kemp were solid at the back while Diego and Aloisi controlled the centre of the midfield. Burns was the most dangerous of the attacking players though his patchy run of form is continuing.
For Melbourne Rodrigo Vargas put in an excellent performance at the back along with Byrnes. Theoklitos was solid and Fred toiled away.