Richard Garcia has enjoyed a dream start to his A-League coaching career after a Nick D'Agostino brace helped lift Perth Glory to a crushing 5-3 win over Adelaide United at HBF Park.
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Western United hosted Adelaide United in this year’s season opener, and in a cagey and generally end-to-end affair neither side was able to find the back of the net, with Western United’s largely counterattacking style unable to satisfy the home fans with a victory.
Adelaide United were satisfied with a point, as coach Carl Veart remarked in his post-match press conference, and both coaches felt a draw was the right and justified result for both sides.
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Adelaide United coach Carl Veart believes he s got the best No.9 in the country in Tomi Juric and expects the fringe Socceroo to only get better as he settles back into life in the A-League.
Juric, 29, signed for Adelaide in November after his time in Europe petered out in a stint in Bulgaria, and he started in their season opener against Western United on Monday.
The striker played 84 minutes and came dangerously close to scoring twice, with one effort cleared off the goal line.
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He also set up Ben Halloran for another near-miss in an impressive return to the A-League at Geelong s GMHBA Stadium.
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Elevated to the top of the run sheet after NSW s coronavirus cluster played havoc on the A-League schedule, Monday night s clash proved a feisty one in front of 5128 fans.
The Reds could easily have snared all three points but for Western United s desperate defending which included a goal-line clearance in each half. A draw in the end s a fair result, Adelaide coach Carl Veart said. As the game went on I think we were the side that was more likely to win but I was happy with that performance.
Adelaide s squad, heavily hit by departures over the off-season, offered a glimpse of life to come under Veart with a plethora of local products and youngsters.
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Adelaide star Tomi Juric showed glimpses of his goal threat against Western United on A-League opening day and insists ‘there’s a lot more to come’.
The 41-cap Socceroo made his return from five years playing in Europe and caused the Green and Black endless problems as the Reds were held to a 0-0 stalemate draw at GMHBA Stadium in Geelong.
The Sydneysider spent the past half-decade running out in the Dutch, Swiss and Bulgarian top-flight competitions following spells with Adelaide and Western Sydney Wanderers on home soil.
Juric was tempted back down under in the off-season and the powerful target man proved to be a handful while pulling on a Reds jersey for the first time in seven years on Monday.