A goal in each half from Adam Taggart has guided Perth Glory to a share of the points in a tense 2-2 A-League Men's draw with Adelaide United.
Despite a dominant opening 45 minutes by the Reds, Taggart put Perth ahead 1-0 late in first half stoppage time at Hindmarsh Stadium on Friday night.
And after Adelaide gained the lead through Zach Clough and Bart Vriends in two minutes early in the second half, Taggart equalised on the hour.
While the Glory captain starred for his side, he also had enough chances to snatch all three points.
“I just spoke to him then and we both said, ‘You could have had five goals today’,” quipped Perth coach David Zdrilic.
“I thought it was very difficult to play here. They (Adelaide) are in form so all in all, the point, I was very happy with it.”
United opened up with a blistering pace and tested Perth twice inside the opening five minutes with Stefan Mauk and Ben Folami going close.
Adelaide continued to pepper the Glory goal but didn’t trouble Perth keeper Cameron Cook, failing to register a shot on target in the first half.
On 32 minutes, the Reds thought they had taken a well-deserved lead when Dutch stopper Vriends bundled the ball over the line after Panagiotis Kikianis nodded down a Clough free kick.
VAR intervened and after a five-minute review, the goal was ruled out for an Adelaide offside.
As the half drew to a close, Perth had a great chance when Josh Rison flicked on a corner from Anas Mazaoui which Reds keeper James Delianov was forced to tip over.
Four minutes into injury time, the Glory shocked the home side and broke the deadlock through their skipper.
Nicholas Pennington lifted the ball over the Reds' defence looking for Hamzaoui but it was cleared by Folami. The loose ball fell to Taggart who calmly placed his shot into the bottom corner.
Adelaide responded in perfect fashion after the interval, equalising just three minutes into the second half.
Mauk laid the ball into the area for Folami, who with his back to goal teed up Clough, who made no mistake from 15 metres by bending his shot into the far corner.
Two minutes later and at the second time of asking, Vriends did notch his first goal for his new club.
Clough whipped in a free kick from close to the corner flag which Vriends charged onto, tucking a glancing header in the side netting.
On 61 minutes, the Glory equalised against the run of play through Taggart.
Substitute Cristian Caicedo recycled play for Perth, laying off to Risdon, who curled in a cross from the right. The Glory captain rose above Vriends and powered a header in off the post.
Reds substitute Archie Goodwin found the back of the net a short time later following a quick transition, but it was rubbed out for offside.
United had strong claims for a penalty deep into added time when the ball appeared to strike the arm of Brandon O’Neill, but the referee waved play on.
Adelaide coach Carl Veart was disappointed the Reds coughed up points after failing to capitalise on their dominance.
“No, you’re never happy when you drop points at home,” he said.
“The boys tried hard tonight, just some small details cost us; defensively and just a little bit more clinical and sharpness in and around their box – we needed to create more opportunities for ourselves.”
