Adelaide United temporarily climbed back into third spot with a 2-1 win over league leader Perth Glory at NIB Stadium on Monday night in sweltering conditions.

Perth experienced its third hottest January day on record when the mercury soared to 44.4 degrees at 2pm and the temperature was still 36 degrees when the two sides kicked off at 5:30pm.

United were forced to come from behind after Perth opened the scoring and goals to Craig Goodwin and James Jeggo means the Reds are one point clear of Melbourne Victory with Kevin Muscat’s side taking on Western Sydney Wanderers on Tuesday night.

The Reds welcomed back suspended duo Nigel Boogaard and Tarek Elrich while Marcelo Carrusca, Osama Malik and Fabio Ferreira all returned from injury.

Boogaard and Elrich slotted straight into the back four while Carrusca also made his way into the starting XI. Malik entered the fray with a quarter hour to play and Ferreira was an unused substitute.

The changes saw the Reds dominate proceedings early on but Nebojsa Marinkovic broke the deadlock on 11 minutes against the run of play.

Glory’s star recruit Andy Keough picked up possession wide on the left before teeing up his team-mate whose low, drilled power drive flew past Reds keeper Paul Izzo and nestled in the bottom corner.

But, after the drinks break, United emerged energised and drew level on the half hour when Goodwin capitalised on a poor back pass from Richard Garcia.

The Reds winger intercepted the pass and coolly slipped his shot past the onrushing Perth keeper Danny Vukovic.

Tempers simmered in the closing stages of the first half and the tension continued after half time with both sides hoping to claim maximum points before the three-week hiatus during the Asian Cup.

Three minutes into the second half and United took the lead thanks to some great build up play and a clinical finish from Jeggo.

Sergio Cirio and Bruce Djite combined on the left flank with the latter supplying a delightful cutback for Jeggo who timed his run into the area perfectly and made no mistake from 12 metres.

The visitors maintained control of the match and rarely looked troubled and even wasted a couple of chances to extend their lead.

Cirio smacked his shot against the cross bar after dancing through the Glory defence before substitute Awer Mabil forced Vukovic into a great save from a tight angle.

Perth pushed hard for an equaliser and Izzo was called into action after shots from Danny Da Silva, while Jamie Maclaren and Marinkovic both blazed over in the closing stages.

DETAILS

Monday, Jan 5
Perth Glory 1 (Marinkovic 11’)
Adelaide United 2 (Goodwin 31’, Jeggo 48’)
9,660 at NIB Stadium