The Western Sydney Wanderers take on Adelaide United today in the A-League grand final. Join us for live coverage from 4pm.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Our correspondent on the east coast, Harrison Vesey, will be bringing match updates and social media highlights. Join the conversation using the hashtags #ALeagueGF or #ADLvWSW, tweet directly to @harrisonvesey, or email harrison.vesey@fairfaxmedia.com.au.
Remember to keep refreshing the page to stay updated!
FULL TIME
Adelaide United 3 – 1 Western Sydney Wanderers
Tears in Galekovic’s eyes, you can see how much this means to the captain.
“So proud of the team today. Great effort,” the keeper says.
“I’ve been here a long time and finally got the double. 50,000 South Australians here and they helped us today, it spurred us on.”
On Guillermo Amor: “Absolute champion. He’s the best coach in Australia and more importantly he’s a fantastic person. We're proud to have a true legend of the game.”
The wait continues for Popovic and the visitors, who have now lost three grand finals.
Thanks for joining us with this live coverage. Congratulations Adelaide, a well-deserved win completes a remarkable turn-around for the best team this season.
92:00 Red haze fills the stadium with flares going off. The fight has truly gone out of Western Sydney now and who can blame them after that sucker punch.
89:45 GOAL! PABLO SANCHEZ WRAPS IT UP FOR UNITED!
Kearyn Baccus slips in the worst position, letting Sanchez run through on goal. He finishes coolly and sprints to the crowd. The home crowd is deafening. Three minutes of stoppage time to go.
87:00 The crowd is making some noise for Western Sydney. They’ve got at least half their team in front of the ball, with Adelaide opting to leave Kamau isolated and sit very deep. They’re minutes away from a historic victory.
84:40 Dimas swings a corner into the box and Topor-Stanley gets some power behind it, but Galekovic doesn't have to go far to claim it.
Two substitutes. Western Sydney’s experienced striker Shannon Cole comes on for Scott Jamieson, and Carrusca makes way for Adelaide's lucky charm.
82:40 Kamau goes down clutching his ankle. He’s in no rush to get up, and Santalab doesn’t help the case by attempting to drag the winger to his feet. Pablo Sanchez is ready to come on for Adelaide.
80:00 Dimas is the fourth Wanderers player booked after he gets a little too physical in a shoulder-to-shoulder challenge. Adelaide are pushing higher and turning the screws. Western Sydney will need to try something soon.
77:40 Andreu makes way for Kearyn Baccus. Massive chance for the former Blacktown City player to make an impact for his hometown.
75:00 15 minutes to play, at least. Can definitely see this one going to extra time. Wanderers are in a mood to attack and United are sitting deep, but being urged forward by their supporters.
71:20 Vidosic is picked out through on goal but decides to square it when perhaps he should have chanced a shot. Wanderers are looking very hungry.
Some time for Adelaide to take stock as defender Marrone goes down. He is replaced by a player from western Sydney, and former Wanderers defender, Tarek Elrich.
68:50 UNITED GOAL… disallowed for offside. Redmayne does well to deny Cirio, and the follow-up bulges the net but is disallowed with Cirio blocking the keeper from an offside position.
Let’s take a moment to enjoy that superb strike from Neville, who’s dragged Western Sydney back into this match.
67:50 Two great opportunities for United. Carrusca’s shot is blocked, Goodwin picks out Djite with a beautiful cross and Redmayne does exceptionally well to cover low at his near post.
66:00 Castelen is back on the field and shows lovely chest control to fashion a chance from a weak clearance.
Jamieson breaks clear and tries to pick out Bridge at the back post but his cross is slightly too high for what would have been a certain goal.
63:30 After some crazy minutes and chances at both ends, the game calms down somewhat.
60:45 Bad signs for Western Sydney. Castelen's scintillating run into the box ends with the ball picked off his toe. There’s no contact but after a few steps he goes down in pain. Hopefully not the end of his match.
59:30 And almost an equaliser! Castelen squares it to Vidosic, who looks for Santalab with his header. The ball breaks for Kamau, who inexplicably sends it back into the box for his nervous defenders to clear.
58:00 GOAL! Western Sydney back in it!
Beautiful play from the visitors. Castelen picks out Santalab in the box, who backheels to Neville, whose run was not picked up. He smashes it across the gaol with the outside of his boot. He didn’t give Galekovic a chance with that one.
Game on!
55:40 The first substitution draws boos from the crowd. Birthday boy Mitch Nichols is replaced by Dario Vidosic, who scored the winner last week.
54:30 Finally, an attacking move from Western Sydney. Castelen can’t quite beat Goodwin. The Wanderers get another shot but Nichols finds his path to the ball well blocked and Galekovic claims.
52:30 Western Sydney can’t hold on to the ball. Cirio earns beautiful space on the touch line but looks up to find… not much. Little support in the box and his cutback is stopped well short of Kamau.
49:30 Jamieson is the third Wanderers player to earn a booking for a cynical slide.
Djite manages a shot on the turn but it's deflected wide. Nothing comes from the corner.
48:50 Real chance there for United! Redmayne has to change direction and get low to stop Cirio’s nice volley. Wanderers back line needs to be careful, they aren’t tracking these runs. The game could really have been away from them then.
47:30 Nothing much happening yet. United are in control but yet to fashion a real chance.
45:00 And we’re back underway! United kick-off the second half with a reasonably comfortably 2-0 lead to defend. The lights are on and the crowd is in full voice.
HALF TIME
It took a while to get going, but once Adelaide United hit their first the game opened right up. They’re certainly deserving of their lead, although Western Sydney will be ruing a few missed opportunities.
Before you go anywhere, take a moment to savour that inch-perfect free kick from Isaias. You won’t find many grand final goals better than that. Unstoppable.
For those of you who enjoy statistics, there’s not much to separate these teams besides the two goals. Western Sydney has enjoyed 57% of the possession but both teams have only had four shots.
Adelaide’s back four is the big difference right now. They’ve comfortably dealt with 13 balls into the area, whilst Western Sydney has conceded twice from six similar opportunities.
47:00 That’s it for the first half! Castelen has the last chance but Larocca blocks his shot.
Some words from Topor-Stanley, on what it will take to fashion another comeback.
“Same old, keep to our structure and tighten up a little bit at the back. A little more desperation I guess.”
46:00 Nichols finds Mark bridge with a perfectly weighted through ball but the resulting cross is cleared. United are sitting deep, inviting pressure.
45:00 We’ll have two minutes of extra time.
43:30 Castelen holds up the ball until help arrives but Neville’s cross is easily dealt with. Castelen gets the ball back eventually, and shows some clever footwork in the box but can’t shake his man to get a shot away.
41:00 A second booking for Western Sydney.
Andreu earns a yellow for a terrible tackle on Djite. He's not had a good time of it in recent games, but at least he hasn’t conceded a penalty or an own goal yet.
38:00 Wanderers blow another chance. Castelen finds himself with plenty of space in the box but Larocca clears, and Castelen fouls him for his troubles.
36:30 Adelaide with another good chance. Goodwin wins possession near halfway and drives forward but his shot drags well wide.
It’s all Adelaide right now and the crowd is loving it. Chants of United fill the capacity stadium.
33:40 GOAL! WHAT A BEAUTY!
Isaias punishes Topor-Stanley for his careless foul with a beautiful, curling free kick. It goes up and over the wall then dips viciously into the top corner.
32:20 Booking for Topor-Stanley. His 10th yellow card of the season and possibly his most damaging.
Kamau looks to have tripped over his own feet, but it’s the Wanderers captain who’s given away a free kick in a very dangerous position, taking out the winger’s trailing leg from behind.
31:20 The corner results in a second. Santalab wriggles free of two markers and throws himself at the ball but his header goes wide.
29:30 Wanderers captain Topor-Stanley makes a crucial interception to stop United going through on goal. After fashioning two quick chances immediately after conceding, Wanderers have now slowed this game down. Castelen’s darting run results in a corner.
25:00 Wanderers come close to an immediate answer.
Kamau is brought down on the edge of the box, appeals for a foul are waved away. Wanderers break up the field and Nichols comes within an inch of tapping in a low cross at the back post.
History is on Adelaide’s side. The six teams who have opened the scoring in the first half of an A League final have all gone on to win it. Of course, history doesn’t mean much when your opponents were 3-0 down this time last week.
21:20 GOAL!
A clever play down the wing puts Carrusca free. His cross beats FIVE Wanderers defenders to find Kamau, who can't miss from point blank range.
Popovic will be fuming that no-one tracked the run of the 21-year-old winger.
18:30 Great opportunity for the Wanderers, referee Jared Gillett lets them play on and they break down the field. It’s three on three but they can’t pick out anyone in the box. The ball bounces around but the United defenders don’t let the visitors get any space for a shot.
16:00 After United controlled the opening exchanges, Western Sydney have now enjoyed a spell of attacking possession but with nothing to show for it yet.
@MatHumm has something to say about the teams’ kits.
12:00 Lots of pushing and shoving but no real chances to speak of yet. United concede a corner from a comically miscued attempt at a headed clearance.
The corner doesn’t get past the first defender.
10:00 Djite is hot on the heels of Alberto, who makes a sliding clearance just in time and tells keeper Redmayne what he thinks of the lack of coverage.
06:20 Santalab lunges clumsily at Cirio, completely missing the ball and taking out the forward’s planted leg. He escapes with a talking-to from the referee despite immediate protests from United.
05:30 United win a corner but it amounts to nothing. Redmayne’s goal kick finds Castelen, who plays Santalab through with a chip but the striker is offside.
03:10 Castelen takes the first shot of the game, high and wide when he had passing options either side. Their first foray into Adelaide's half. United have been attacking the right wing well.
01:30 Nichols gives away the first foul after the referee let the first few heavy tackles slide.
FIRST HALF KICKS OFF.
Wanderers get us underway, playing in white. Adelaide in their trademark red and yellow.
To avoid confusion with time zones in this wide, brown land, let’s now swap to the match timeline.
4pm Over 50,000 supporters, including 10,000 travelling Wanderers fanatics, making Adelaide Oval a sea of red today. Not a true home match for either team but you have to favour United in their own backyard. Either way, with four grand final losses between them, we’ll have a new A League champion very soon.
3:55pm Adelaide United supporters, no surprises in the first XI. No changes from the last four games.
And Wanderers’ fans, here is your starting line-up.
3:45pm. Technical issues sorted! Let’s start with some of the Wanderer’s coach Tony Popovic’s comments before the match.
“They’ve trained very well, they’ve rested up, they’ve enjoyed the week. You can tell from the looks on the players’ faces, they can’t wait to get out there.”
“You never get sick of making the final. If we can make the final every year, I’ll be delighted. Three out of four years, the club’s done fantastic. We need to win won. We want it to be today.”