Macarthur FC coach Mile Sterjovski says the remarkable 5-4 A-League Men's win on the road at Adelaide United could prove just the boost the Bulls need to keep their finals hopes alive.
The visitors flew out of the blocks at Cooper Stadium on Friday and were 2-0 up inside 10 minutes thanks to goals from Chris Ikonimidis and Keeley Adamson, before Austin Ayoubi, Ryan Kitto and Stefan Mauk had the Reds 3-2 up at half time.
Marin Jakolis and Luke Brattan then restored the Bulls' lead early in the second half, but Archie Goodwin made it 4-4 on 73 minutes, only for the Bulls to grab the winner 10 minutes later when Brattan bagged a brace with a well-executed free kick.
It put Macarthur eighth on the table, one point behind Sydney FC and three points behind sixth-placed Western Sydney Wanderers.
The Bulls, though, have played two more matches than both the Sky Blues and Wanderers, and Macarthur meet Western Sydney in their final match of the season which could prove decisive.
Sterjovksi acknowledged chasing down their closest rivals would be a challenge.
"It was a must-win game, I think every game is a must win for us," he said.
"It's great for our belief and anything can happen. It's going to be a difficult end to the season with how many points we're going to have to get, but I think nobody expected us to win today and it showed a lot of belief and character from the boys and anything can happen from now."
In the fluctuating contest, Sterjovski praised the Bulls' performance and the character his players demonstrated.
"We had a big talk about taking opportunities," he said.
"Today, I really felt like the boys really wanted to show what they're made of and show the heart and character they have and show how much it means for them to be playing this game.
"It was a great show of character and I'm very pleased with the win."
Adelaide coach Carl Veart said his troops were visibly flat following the loss and admitted they'd made mistakes which eventually cost his side a share of the points.
The Reds remained committed to playing out from the back in a bid to bypass Macarthur's high press but coughed up possession deep in defence for the Bulls' second and third goals.
"They're disappointed. They will reflect on it themselves and they know that they worked hard tonight and did some really good things," he said.
"It's just lapses of concentration and some errors have cost them tonight. They're disappointed, they're all feeling it.
"But we've got to pick ourselves up, we still have it in our own hands. There was good signs there tonight."
