Sydney 0 Adelaide 1

Adelaide punished Branko Culina and Sydney FC in Sydney tonight.

And they did it slowly.

Sydney had chances, Patrick hit the bar, Terry McFlynn miscontrolled in front of goal but really Sydney have little in the final third.

Adelaide were too strong defensively and played smartly on the break. In fact only Clint Bolton stopped them from taking the lead in the first half.

Of course, as the home side, Sydney were well in the contest until Adelaide scored early in the second half but Sydney's confidence drained and drained fast.

Adelaide have strength on and off the park. Paul Agostino, Bruce Djite and Bobby Petta injured and Nathan Burns on the bench. Amazing strength.

Sydney didn't have a forward to match any of those United forwards not playing, and that perhaps tells the story.

Sydney have not recruited well, not in the first year or ever since.

Brendan Santalab, Alex Brosque, Patrick, David Zdrillic, don't offer much no matter what combination Branko plays.

Tony Popovic hasn't added much. Certainly hasn't improved the team or the defence despite the hype. And to me Mark Rudan always seemed Sydney FC.

He was in the first year when he missed so many games,before firing Sydney into a crucial lead against Adelaide in the semi-final. And he was a giant in Asia.

And his reward: Captaincy to Poppa.

Where does such a club expect loyalty from the fans and the players to come from?

Adam Casey was given yet another role, and certainly responded positively. He ran hard at the Adelaide defence and created a couple of wonderful crosses one of which Patrick was unlucky not to score from.

But really Sydney are lacking confidence and it's not possible with the group of players to achieve this confidence. No forwards of note, no wingers, and Juninho starting to be drawn into the poor pattern of play.

Branko raised Sydney's standards in the Asian Champions League. But he doesn't seem to have been able to replicate it in the normal season. Why?

Adelaide are flowing. Travis Dodd powered forward for the goal and pulled it back for Lucas Pantelis to finish. A great goal.

Of course once they scored, United were able to play on the break. And they did.

Andy Harper is concerned about Branko's instructions or lack of them. But everyone knows Sydney doesn't have a forward line of sufficient quality.

So now hope turns to Michael Bridges. Will he deliver?

Who knows and that has been the story of overseas players. How long do they take to get up to speed?

But all is not lost for Sydney. They have a lot of away games to come and that may play into Sydney's strength, defence.

The A-League needs a strong Sydney. They have enough quality in the squad to get some results but it's hard to see this group of players being able to push the Roar, Victory, Adelaide, The Jets or The Mariners out of the top spots.

For now enjoy the rise and rise of Aurelio Vidmar's team. With two home games to come another two wins is entirely possible.

The small travelling flag waving Adelaide fans enjoyed the Pantelis moment. In truth their were many moments for United. Cassio and Diego had excellent offensive games. The former mainly because Branko set his team out to allow it to happen.

Travis Dodd is in a wonderful period, strength skill and leadership.

Nathan Burns exploded into the action. Kristian Sarkies should have finished the game, but it didn't matter.

Sydney were left to chase a game at home, without any real pattern or hope.

I hate to say it, but it seems to me Sydney are worse under Branko than Butcher no matter what other commentators say!

Alvin Ceccoli, Sasho Petrovski,Nikolai Topor-Stanley, David Carney are big losses in the skill, composure and forward play of Sydney. Has any of them been improved upon?

Sydney's season could get a lot worse yet!