2016 A-League Grand Final

The 2016 A-League Grand Final was the eleventh A-League Grand Final, and was played on 1 May 2016, at Adelaide Oval to determine the 2015–16 A-League Champion. The match was contested by the two winning finals series semi-finalists, Adelaide United and Western Sydney Wanderers who finished the 2015–16 A-League season in first and second position respectively.

2016 A-League Grand Final
Event2015–16 A-League
Date1 May 2016
VenueAdelaide Oval, Adelaide
Man of the MatchIsaías
RefereeJarred Gillett
Attendance50,119
WeatherPartly cloudy
18 °C (64 °F)[1]

The match was won by Adelaide United, who defeated Western Sydney Wanderers 3–1 in front of a crowd of 50,119.

The Grand Final was both teams' third, with both never having won. Adelaide losing the 2007 and 2009 grand finals against Melbourne Victory 6–0 and 1–0 respectively. Wanderers lost consecutive grand finals in 2013 and 2014, against Central Coast Mariners 2–0 and Brisbane Roar 2–1 in extra time.

As Grand Final winners, Adelaide United earned a spot in the group stage of the 2017 AFC Champions League, but had already qualified for the Asian competition prior to the match via their league position.

Route to the final

Pos Team Pts
1 Adelaide United 49
2 Western Sydney Wanderers 48
3 Brisbane Roar 48
4 Melbourne City 44
5 Perth Glory 43
6 Melbourne Victory 41

After the completion of the 2015–16 A-League regular season, the top six teams qualified for the finals series. Teams finishing 3rd-6th placed (Brisbane Roar, Melbourne City, Perth Glory and Melbourne Victory) began the series in the elimination-finals, with the top two teams (Adelaide United and Western Sydney Wanderers) receiving byes into the semi-finals.

The first match of the elimination-finals between Brisbane Roar and Melbourne Victory. The opening goal of the game came at the 86th minute, with Besart Berisha putting Melbourne in front. Brisbane immediately responded with a goal by Matt McKay in the 88th minute. In the third minute of added-time Thomas Broich netted in the match winner ensuring e progress to the semi-finals with a 2–1 win.[2] The second elimination-final match between Melbourne City and Perth Glory was played in front of a crowd of 11,273 at AAMI Park. A brace from Bruno Fornaroli at either side of the break saw Melbourne progress to face Adelaide in the semi-finals.[3]

The first match of the semi-finals was played at Hindmarsh Stadium in front of a sold-out crowd of 15,489. Adelaide took the lead at the 48th minute thanks to Bruce Djite, and the forward doubled the lead after converting a penalty in the 60th minute. Nick Fitzgerald's 72nd-minute goal gave the visitors some hope, but any chances of Melbourne City progressing were soon scrapped when Dylan McGowan scored in the 88th minute and Pablo Sánchez scored in the fourth minute of added-time to see the match finish 4–1. The win saw Adelaide through to their first A-League grand final in seven years.[4]

In the second semi-final match Western Sydney Wanderers hosted Brisbane Roar at Parramatta Stadium in front of a sold-out crowd of 20,084. Brisbane started the game strongly by racing to a 3–0 lead inside 23 minutes via a Dimitri Petratos penalty, an Andreu Guerao own goal and a Jamie Maclaren strike. Wanderers replied with a goal in the 26th minute via Romeo Castelen, and Brendon Santalab scored in the 39th to bring the scores to 2–3. Castelen levelled the scores in 53rd minute and quickly put the home side in front with a 59th-minute goal. Another Maclaren goal within the last 10 minutes tied the scores to see the game go into extra-time. The deadlock broke in the 102nd minute with substitute Dario Vidosic netting in the decisive goal to send Wanderers to a third Grand Final in four years.[5]

Adelaide Oval was chosen to host the 2016 A-League Grand Final
The Hill at Adelaide Oval was opened due to a high demand for tickets.
Elimination-finals   Semi-finals   Grand Final
                   
      Adelaide United 4  
Melbourne City 2     Melbourne City 1  
Perth Glory 0       Adelaide United 3
    Western Sydney Wanderers 1
      Western Sydney Wanderers (a.e.t.) 5
Brisbane Roar 2     Brisbane Roar 4  
Melbourne Victory 1  

Pre-match

Grand Final man of the match, Isaías.

Adelaide Oval was confirmed to be the host venue of the 2016 A-League Grand Final following Adelaide United's semi-final win.[6] The Oval was chosen as it has a capacity of 53,583, some 37,083 more than United's regular home Coopers Stadium, and had hosted a number of Adelaide United's high-profile A-League matches against Sydney FC and Melbourne Victory. Adelaide United have also played at the venue in friendly matches against Spanish side Málaga CF, in front of a crowd of 23,254, and Liverpool FC in front of 53,008 fans.

2015–16 Referee of the Year Jarred Gillett was named as the referee of the Grand Final. Gillett, a FIFA listed referee, previously took charge of the 2012 A-League Grand Final between Brisbane Roar and Perth Glory after being named the 2011–12 Referee of the Year, as well as the 2015 A-League Grand Final between Sydney FC and Melbourne Victory after being named the 2014–15 Referee of the Year. Gillett will be joined by Matthew Cream and Luke Brennan as the assistant referees, Paul Cetrangolo as the fourth official and Strebre Delovski and Chris Beath as additional assistant referees.[7]

By 26 April, more than 43,000 tickets had been sold for the Grand Final match, with between 5,000 and 8,000 fans travelling from interstate, similar to the amount of supporters that travelled north for the 2014 Grand Final in Brisbane.[8] Due to the high amount of travelling Wanderers fans, extra flights from Sydney to Adelaide were arranged by various airlines. The increased demand saw some Qantas flights from Sydney to Adelaide almost tripling in price, with non-stop flights at $900 one-way. Virgin Australia had put on four extra flights, with the cheapest economy ticket from Sydney to Adelaide on the Saturday before the Grand Final costing $445 one-way. Tigerair Australia had also added an extra weekend flight, with tickets at $469 one-way.[9]

Due to the demand for tickets, FFA organised for The Hill at the Adelaide Oval to be opened for use. This added a further 1,500 tickets for the general public.[10]

Match

Summary

Bruce Kamau opened the scoring for Adelaide in the 22nd minute after finishing a cross from Marcelo Carrusca. Isaías doubled the lead for the home side 12 minutes later when he curled a free kick into the top corner past Wanderers keeper Andrew Redmayne.

Adelaide came close to adding a third early in the second half. Later, Scott Neville gave the visitors hope with a goal in the 58th minute, set up by Romeo Castelen and Brendon Šantalab. Adelaide thought they had restored a two-goal lead with just over 20 minutes to go, but when the ball was poked home from inside the box, it was ruled out for offside. Wanderers poured forward in search of an equaliser, but they could not find the necessary finish. As the game moved into the final minutes, Adelaide made sure of their title, as Pablo Sanchez burst into the penalty area and fired a shot across Redmayne into the corner of the net for 3–1.[11][12]

Isaías was named man of the match, and as such was the recipient of the Joe Marston Medal.[13]

Details

Adelaide United3–1Western Sydney Wanderers
Kamau  21'
Isaías  32'
Sánchez  89'
Report Neville  58'
Attendance: 50,119
Adelaide United
Western Sydney
Wanderers
GK1 Eugene Galekovic
RB2 Michael Marrone 73'
CB4 Dylan McGowan
CB3 Iacopo La Rocca
LB16 Craig Goodwin
DM8 Isaías
CM10 Marcelo Carrusca 86'
CM6 Stefan Mauk
RW24 Bruce Kamau 90'
CF11 Bruce Djite
LW9 Sergio Cirio
Substitutes:
GK20 John Hall
DF21 Tarek Elrich 73'
DF23 Jordan Elsey
MF14 George Mells 90'
FW7 Pablo Sánchez 86'
Manager:
Guillermo Amor
GK20 Andrew Redmayne
RB12 Scott Neville
CB17 Alberto
CB4 Nikolai Topor-Stanley 33'
LB3 Scott Jamieson 50' 86'
CM8 Dimas 81'
CM18 Andreu 42' 78'
AM6 Mitch Nichols 56'
RW7 Romeo Castelen
CF11 Brendon Šantalab
LW19 Mark Bridge
Substitutes:
GK30 Liam Reddy
DF2 Shannon Cole 86'
DF5 Brendan Hamill
MF10 Dario Vidošić 56'
FW15 Kearyn Baccus 78'
Manager:
Tony Popovic

Man of the Match:
Isaías

Assistant referees:
Matthew Cream
Luke Brennan
Fourth official:
Paul Cetrangolo
Additional assistant referees:
Strebre Delovski
Chris Beath

Match rules

  • 90 minutes.
  • 30 minutes of extra time if necessary.
  • Penalty shoot-out if scores still level.
  • Five named substitutes.
  • Maximum of three substitutions.


Statistics

Overall statistics
Adelaide United Western Sydney Wanderers
Goals scored31
Total shots1510
Shots on target73
Ball possession35.7%64.3%
Corner kicks56
Fouls Conceded1814
Offsides13
Yellow cards04
Red cards00

Broadcasting

As with the previous season, the 2016 A-League Grand Final was broadcast in Australia on Foxtel and on free-to-air TV, with SBS showing the game on a one-hour delay. The Grand Final was also broadcast live on ABC NewsRadio. In New Zealand the match was broadcast live on Sky Sport.

See also

References

  1. "History for Adelaide, South Australia". Weather Underground. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
  2. "Roar march on after stunning late comeback". a-league.com.au. Retrieved 23 April 2016.
  3. "Fornaroli breaks Glory hearts as City progress". a-league.com.au. Retrieved 23 April 2016.
  4. "Adelaide United into Hyundai A-League grand final". a-league.com.au. Retrieved 23 April 2016.
  5. "Wanderers win sensational semi final in extra time". a-league.com.au. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
  6. "Adelaide Oval to host Hyundai A-League GF". a-league.com.au. Retrieved 23 April 2016.
  7. "Referees for 2016 Hyundai A-League Grand Final named". a-league.com.au. Retrieved 27 April 2015.
  8. "Wandereres make us really proud to be Westies". Liverpool City Champion. Fairfax Regional Media. Retrieved 7 July 2014.
  9. "A-League grand final: Airline tickets to Adelaide surge ahead of decider angering Wanderers fans". abc.net.au. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  10. "Final 1500 tix released for Hyundai A-League Grand Final". a-league.com.au. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  11. "A-League grand final live: Adelaide United beats Western Sydney Wanderers 3-1 in thrilling decider". abc.net.au. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
  12. "A-League Grand Final: Adelaide United beat Western Sydney Wanderers 3-1 in thriller to take first title". abc.net.au. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
  13. "Live coverage of 2015-16 A-League grand final, Adelaide United v Western Sydney Wanderers". foxsports.com.au. Retrieved 3 May 2016.

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