The Central Coast Mariners have come away with a stunning victory on Saturday evening, defeating Adelaide United 4-0 at Industree Group Stadium.
Goals from Beni Nkololo, Jacob Farrell and two own goals from Adelaide secured the victory, with a Sammy Silvera goal ruled out for offside.
The win now pushes the Mariners into second place on the Isuzu UTE A-League Men’s ladder, currently sitting on a four-game win streak at home.
The Mariners were threatening from the first whistle, looking dangerous from the outset. Farrell and Thomas Aquilina regularly finding space down the wings, with the duo of Harry Steele and Josh Nisbet controlling the midfield.
Despite the pressure chances were limited early, with the Central Coast unable to quite find the killer blow. It took until the 30th minute for us to hit a deserved lead, with Silvera having a shot from range.
The winger’s effort from 25 yards out whipping through the pack, hitting off Alexander Popovic’s leg before rocketing past Joe Gauci. The goal handing us a 1-0 lead, taking us through to the half time break.
The second half got off to the worst possible start for Adelaide, with experienced midfielder Isaias sent off for a dangerous challenge on Jacob Farrell. The Spaniards’ studs connecting with the youngster’s calf, getting shown a red just 15 minutes into the second period.
Things went from bad to worse for the away side shortly after, with the Mariners scoring their second just two minutes later. Nectar Triantis playing a spectacular ball across the pitch to Silvera, taking a magnificent touch before driving to goal.
His initial shot stopped by Gauci, hitting back off Silvera before falling directly to Beni Nkololo. Our Frenchman making no mistake, handing us the 2-0 lead in the 48th minute.
Two became three in the 54th minute, with Adelaide scoring their second own goal of the match. A Marco Tulio cross finding the foot of Panashe Madanha, the right back smacking it past his goalkeeper.
His deflection giving the Mariners a 3-0 lead following a massive opening 10 minutes to the second half.
Jacob Farrell got his well-deserved goal four minutes later, the youngster converting his second of the season. Sammy Silvera playing a ball through to an overlapping Farrell, the defender taking on the shot despite there being a covering defender.
His effort chipping over Gauci and into the bottom corner, staying just out of the reach of Adelaide defenders. The Mariners now 4-0 up inside 60 minutes, with the local crowd in raptures at the terrific footballing display.
The Mariners thought they had their fifth through Sammy Silvera, the winger finding the ball just outside the penalty area. After taking a few dribbles he hit almost the perfect shot, nutmegging an Adelaide defender before wrong footing Gauci, nestling into the net.
VAR intervention eventually resulted in the Mariners having another goal ruled out this season, with Michael Ruhs deemed to have affected the eye line of the Adelaide goalkeeper as the shot was taken.
With multiple substitutions including Sammy Silvera to stadium wide applause, the Mariners controlled the match until the final whistle.
Shots from Sasha Kuzevski and Nectar Triantis going the closest, stinging the palms of Gauci as he pulled off multiple top class saves to keep the score to four.
The Mariners now look to keep our momentum rolling as we head into consecutive away games, traveling to Campbelltown to face Macarthur before flying over the ditch to take on Wellington Phoenix.
We then return home to face Western Sydney on January 28th, looking to make it five home wins in a row.
