Adelaide United overcame a sterile first half against Melbourne City to record a 1-0 A-League Mens win at Coopers Stadium.
A header in the second half from Archie Goodwin handed United maximum points on Friday night to put them within two points of league leader Auckland FC.
For City, the defeat was their third on the trot.
Althought the Reds' performance was less than memorable, Reds coach Carl Veart felt the victory showed more progress from his predominantly youthful group.
"Sometimes when you're not at your best and you come away with a win, is a great sign of improvement in our playing squad," he said.
The visitors were the dominant side in the first half, pressing the Reds high from outset, and were aided by gusty winds which made it difficult for Adelaide to find a way out of their defensive half.
As the half wore on, City continued to strangle United, who regularly coughed up possession cheaply by way of sloppy passes and unforced errors.
Chances were few and far between in the opening 45 minutes, with neither Ethan Cox nor Patrick Beach forced into any real saves in the Adelaide and Melbourne goal respectively.
But, the match sprung to life following the interval as Adelaide broke the deadlock on 52 minutes.
Zach Clough whipped in a corner from the left which was met at the near post by Goodwin, who executed a perfect glancing header, directing the ball past Beach for his eighth goal of the season.
Almost immediately, substitute Yaya Dukuly chased down a long ball over the City defence and slid to keep it in before crossing for Clough.
The Reds' No.10 had three bites of the cherry, but couldn't find the back of the net. His first effort was a toe poke which Beach saved. While on the deck, he headed the rebound off the cross bar, before his third attempt went wide of the post.
On 70 minutes Goodwin had a strong chance to double United's advantage when he robbed German Ferreyra on half way.
The Reds striker raced towards goal with Samuel Souprayen giving chase but Goodwin's effort was tame and easily saved by Beach.
City's keeper was called into action in the final stages, forced into a stunning save by Dylan Pierias.
United's fullback was released by Bart Vriends with a long ball over the defence which Pierias latched on to, brought under control and cut inside before looking to pick out the far post with a curling effort.
Beach was at full stretch and tipped it away.
City coach Aurelio Vidmar lamented his side's inability to capitalise during a strong opening 45 minutes.
"I thought we were very, very good in the first half and unfortunately when you have that dominance, and you're not able to score a goal, then you're always a little but more under pressure because obviously they want to come in at halftime and adjust things," he said.
