Adelaide United left Jeronimo on the bench but that didn’t stop the import as he came on early and played a key role in their 3-2 victory over Perth Glory at Hindmarsh Stadium on Friday night.
Just after the first minute Adelaide were forced to bring Jeronimo on as Bruce Djite was forced from the field with a groin injury.
In the eighth minute Bas van den Brink nearly handed Jeronimo the opener as his sloppy pass was cut out by Jeronimo but his shot was too lightly hit, allowing Vukovic to easily save.
Perth had a golden opportunity to take the lead when Stephen McGarry was left unmarked at the far post but McGarry hit his header well over the bar.
In the 28th minute Perth Glory were made to pay for that miss as an Antony Golec long ball caused confusion between Scott Jamieson and Vukovic which lead to Jamieson slicing his clearance right in to the path of Jeronimo who easily tapped home in to an empty net.
Perth went close from the restart as McGarry nearly made up for his mistake by putting his side on level terms but his powerful shot from the edge of the area came off the woodwork and fell for Shane Smeltz who tried to shoot but was denied by a solid block from Golec.
That rebound fell to Liam Miller, giving Perth a third chance but that gave Galekovic enough time to recover and dive at Miller’s feet to claim the ball.
The Reds doubled their lead in the 37th minute as Dario Vidosic sent Jeronimo through with a perfectly weighted through-ball which allowed Jeronimo to pick his spot and place the ball past Vukovic and in to the back of the net.
Almost immediately after half-time it became 3-0 as a Vidosic corner was well met by Iain Ramsay who sent it home in to the roof of the net.
Galekovic was at his best to deny Smeltz in the 66th minute as he made a fingertip save to keep his clean sheet intact.
With one minute to play Smeltz finally did find his goal, through the penalty spot and when McGarry scored a second after the 90th from a tight angle it gave Perth hope of salvaging a draw but Adelaide held on to claim all three points.
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