Football
2018-19 Australian A League, Regular Season
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Adelaide win eight-goal thriller vs. Brisbane to seal A-League home final

Adelaide's 5-3 win over Brisbane sealed a home A-League elimination final berth but it is being treated as a warning by coach Marco Kurz.

The Reds had to twice come from behind against the lowly Roar in the Anzac Day encounter at Suncorp Stadium before late Baba Diawara and Isaias strikes secured the victory.

The win ensures Adelaide will finish fourth and host a final at Coopers Stadium next weekend, most likely against Wellington Phoenix although Melbourne City could still finish above the New Zealand team.

Kurz was delighted to seal the home final but said the performance was far from satisfactory by his team.

After taking an early lead through Nikola Mileusnic, the Reds went in 2-1 down at halftime after Roar forwards Dylan Wenzel-Halls and Nicholas D'Agostino both scored.

D'Agostino's strike was particularly galling for the German, coming in the fifth minute of added-time at the end of the half.

"It was one of my louder halftime meetings with the boys," Kurz said. "They woke up, not 100 percent, but 95 percent, that was enough today.

"It was a good warning that we need always 100 percent performance. We are not the team who can create simple chances or can score goals, we are a team that must always work hard to get the result."

Both teams played a seven-goal thriller in February, when Adelaide came from 3-0 down to claim a 4-3 victory.

Their free-scoring ways continued in the second half with George Blackwood levelling shortly after halftime before an Eric Bautheac penalty -- which the French winger audaciously rolled past prone Adelaide goalkeeper Paul Izzo -- put the Roar back in front.

Winger Craig Goodwin's clever work to get past two Roar defenders before slamming home got the Reds level again and then Diawara's first goal in over 12 months put Adelaide ahead.

Reds' skipper Isaias sealed the win in the 85th minute to ensure there was no happy ending for retiring Roar captain Matt McKay, who was playing in his 302nd and final match in all competitions for the club.

Brisbane end the season with just four wins and having conceded 71 goals -- eclipsing Central Coast's mark of 70 from 2015-16 as the most conceded by a team in a single A-League season.

The result ensured watching Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler, appointed coach earlier in the week, has no illusions about the task that lies ahead of him.

"Gave it our best and just fell short, conceded too many goals. Possibly a recurring story of the season, where we've just fell short," interim coach Darren Davies said.

"The season's over ... I'm excited now about the news that we've really got a plan to move forward."

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