Adelaide United 1 Western Sydney Wanderers 1: Andreu atones for own goal

Andreu went from first-half villain to second-half hero with a late goal that enabled Western Sydney Wanderers to force a 1-1 draw against Adelaide United at Coopers Stadium on Friday.

The former Barcelona B midfielder, in just his second A-League match for the club, deflected the ball into the back of his own net to give the hosts the lead midway through the opening period.

Adelaide tackled smartly but looked decidedly rusty in most other departments as Romeo Castelen forged incessantly to restore parity.

However, it was Andreu who struck for Wanderers, redeeming himself with an 83rd-minute equaliser for his side’s first point of the A-League campaign.

With a sizeable stroke of good fortune, Adelaide surged ahead when Tarek Elrich, dominating the left flank in his return to the line-up, aimed a delivery towards Eli Babalj.

Elrich’s cut-back took a wicked deflection off Andreu, giving Andrew Redmayne no chance in the Wanderers net.

The Wanderers squandered numerous opportunities to equalise, with the greatest culprit being Jaushua Sotirio, who miscued horribly from inches out.

Against the run of play, Craig Goodwin produced a venomous strike in the 75th minute that was spectacularly tipped onto the crossbar by the diving Redmayne.

But Wanderers managed to equalise with seven minutes left as Andreu smashed home the equaliser following a poor clearance from Elrich.