No Bad Moon Rising for Macarthur
But Adelaide left in despair after being edged out in a nine goal thriller where chaos reigned supreme
Bonkers, utterly bonkers.
There was a Blood Moon all over the world on Friday night, but in Adelaide it might have been a full moon, so chaotic, mesmerising and bizarre were the events that unfolded at Adelaide United's Coopers Stadium as the Reds and Macarthur shared nine goals in a topsy turvey, see sawing game which eventually ended up with Macarthur taking the points in a 5-4 win.
It was as if football's Lord of Misrule had cast his spell over the players, rendering them incapable of performing - on a consistent basis - the most straightforward of footballing tasks as egregious errors were mixed with spectacular strikes and moments of inspiration in equal measure.
It was exciting, exhilarating and entertaining and a brilliant spectacle for fans, particularly those of a neutral variety, as the lead changed hands every couple of minutes in the sort of drama that few scriptwriters would have dared pitching to a film studio.
It had everything - long range drives, embarrassing defensive errors as goalkeepers sought to play out from the back, two disallowed Adelaide goals, a missed sitter and an on field bust up between the spiky Stefan Mauk and his Macarthur midfield opposite number Luke Brattan.
This was another great advertisement for the local game, a fiery, feisty encounter that produced a helter skelter first half with plenty of goals, near misses, errors and some slapstick defending: a perfect pot pourri of the things that we love about the game.
Nick Hornby observed in his classic football book Fever Pitch that there was no better feeling for a home fan than watching your team come back to win after they had trailed 0-2 at half time.
What on earth would he have made of proceedings at Coopers Stadium on Friday night after Adelaide managed to do so inside 20 minutes, having allowed visitors Macarthur to score twice in two minutes to race two a two-goal lead within 10 minutes of the kick off!
!The fact that it wasn't a demonstration of slick silky efficiency from both sides was, perhaps, not that surprising given their recent run of form after both had started the season brightly.
Macarthur had only taken one point out of a possible fifteen after losing four and drawing one in their last five games, while Adelaide had taken only two points from a possible 12 since defeating Melbourne City 1-0 in early February at their Hindmarsh home ground.
The Reds had slumped to fourth on the table, Macarthur to eighth, and the one thing Adelaide boss Carl Veart and his Macarthur counterpart Mile Sterjovski would have wanted was a controlled, disciplined and structured performance, one which in which their teams gave little away at the back and maximised whatever chances came their way.
Macarthur looked as though they were certain to get their season back on track inside the first 10 minutes when they raced to a two goal lead, an advantage their adventurous attacking opening had fully justified.
Chris Ikonomidis put them in front in the eighth minute, sweeping home a Maris Jakolis cross from close range after some excellent approach work by full back Kealey Adamson, whose raking cross field pass from the right found Jakolis on the left.
It was the sort of goal that might look simple to construct but is difficult to execute, and on this occasion Macarthur executed perfectly.
The visitors’ second, however, owed much to some comedy capers defending from their hosts rather than any penetrating approach work of their own.
Teams all over the world try to play out from the back, and while it can always help to spring an opposition press when carried out effectively, it can put a team under enormous pressure when it is not carried out perfectly.
And in the 10th minute that is just what Adelaide discovered: after pushing the ball around their penalty area goalkeeper James Delianov played the ball out to midfielder Ethan Alagich on the edge of the penalty area when he was already being closely marked: the inevitable occurred, he lost posession and eventually the ball fell to Adamson who lashed home from inside the penalty area.
At this point Reds fans’ best hope would probably have been for their team to pull one goal back before the break. Two would have been fantastic. But three - well, tell 'em your dreamin' would have been the most likely retort.
But that's exactly what happened as this roller coaster of a match picked up its rollicking rhythm.
It took the Reds just nine minutes to draw level. First it was Austin Ayoubi who reduced the deficit in the 13th minute when he found himself unmarked at the far post to turn in Zac Clough's cross. Then in the 19th minute Adelaide captain Ryan Kitto brought his side level with a thunderous drive from outside the area that left Filip Kurto helpless as it sailed past and nestled in the left corner of his net.
Surely this couldn't continue, could it? Oh yes it could.
Both teams went at each other like boxers who had decided that all out attack was the only way they could win a fight, and it was the Reds who landed another telling blow in the 42nd minute when Stefan Mauk, their combative midfielder, lashed home from outside the area after a Macarthur defensive error left him with the time and space to pick his spot.
Archie Goodwin should have added to Macarthur's misery in first half stoppage time when presented with a gilt edged opportunity which he could only loft over the bar from close range.
That miss - and an earlier Kitto strike which was disallowed because Goodwin had been offside - proved costly eight minutes after the restart when yet another playing out from the back blunder cost Adelaide dear.
This time the comedy of errors began when Delianov tried to find Panagiotis Kikianis on the edge of his penalty area: predictably enough he was hustled out of possession and eventually the ball fell to Luke Brattan who accepted the chance with glee.
The chaos continued shortly afterwards when an Adelaide rearguard, by now living on its nerves, failed to deal with a routine clearance and allowed the ball to fall to Jakolis, unmarked on the left, who needed no invitation to smash home an angled shot to make it 4-3 to Macarthur.
It was, however, a case of ''hold my beer'' as far as Kurto in the Macarthur goal seemed to say as he too replicated Delianov's error at the other end to allow Adelaide to equalise once again.
Kurto's attempt to pass into midfield was blocked by Mauk, who kept calm, resisted the temptation to shoot himself and rolled a pass to Goodwin who stroked the ball into an empty net.
That wasn't the end of the drama - of course not.
Brattan stepped up to take a free kick on the edge of the area after Adelaide conceded in the dying minutes and his shot flew past the despairing Delianov to make it 5-4.
There was still time for Adelaide to score an equaliser through substitute Luka Jovanovic, only for it to be ruled out by a VAR adjudicator who surely had no soul or spirit for the game, and for another sub, Yaya Dukuly, to hit the woodwork.
In truth this was a game no-one deserved to win, or lose: but if this is what the moon - blood or full - can influence, then let it shine on and on....