Western Sydney Wanderers' hopes of playing in the A-League finals are becoming more tenuous by the week, after a laborious stalemate against Adelaide United opened the door for the race for sixth spot.
It was the same old story for the Wanderers at Spotless Stadium, after they dominated large spells of the match but failed to convert any chances.
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United almost out after Wanderers draw
Adelaide's title defence is all but over, while Western Sydney are yet to claim a win at Spotless Stadium after a 0-0 draw.
Like most weeks, there was an element of luck that went against them after being denied a first half goal for an apparent infringement. Replays gave coach Tony Popovic plenty of reasons to feel aggrieved after the match, with sentiments becoming all too familiar.
"It's too many times. It's all year, it's every week," Popovic said. "It was a goal. Exactly, it's a goal. There's not much else you can say about that. It's a clear goal, its a legitimate goal and he found a way for it not to be a goal."
They had a right to complain, but like so many games prior, they failed to overcome that setback and clinch a victory their performance probably deserved. In this case, the statistics told the story. Western Sydney finished with 58 per cent possession, had two thirds of the territory and 19 attempts to just six.
But the 8,965 fans that braved the rain left with a feeling of Groundhog Day as all their dominance of figures didn't influence the one statistic that mattered. That they had to brave fatigue to do so was admirable, but Adelaide's 36 hour turnaround between landing back in Australia from China and facing the Wanderers was another influence to a lopsided performance.
Adelaide were understandably lethargic. They sat back and braved wave after wave of Western Sydney attacks that had an all too familiar feel. For all their impressive build-ups from the backline and shape in transition, they were predictable in attack.
Quick-fire crosses from fullbacks weren't pounced upon by their target men. The likes of Jumpei Kusukami and Nicolas Martinez were forced to exert themselves from distance, while Lachlan Scott's ever-present threat couldn't translate into a goal. Even when he beat Adelaide's defence to slot the ball past goalkeeper Daniel Margush, a desperate clearance off the line denied the youngster his second A-League goal. The crosses came his way, but the 19-year-old couldn't provide the finishing touch and resorted to brute force in desperation.
Adelaide goalkeeper Daniel Margush pounced on a loose ball inside the box, only for Scott to bludgeon it out of his hands for captain Dimas Delgado to turn the ball into the net. Referee Kris Griffiths-Jones ruled it out for an infringement in the build-up while replays suggested the goal should have stood.
Terry Antonis took matters into his own hands after the restart with a driving shot from distance that tested the reflexes of Margush, who pulled-off another fine save to deny Scott a point blank header minutes later. The Reds' best chance came via Tarek Elrich who played Sergio Cirio through. The Spaniard comfortably rounded Vedran Janjetovic in goal but his acute finish was cleared off the line by Neville.
A late solo run by Kearyn Baccus had the home fans' hearts in their mouths as his dazzling run was fruitless, so too substitute Josh Sotirio's deflected shot. When Antonis' long-range free-kick scraped the crossbar, that all too familiar feeling of frustration swept across Olympic Park as the Wanderers slumped to their 10th draw of the season.
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