Brazilian striker Cristiano scored his first goals of the season as Adelaide United claimed a 2-1 win over A-League leaders Sydney United despite playing with 10 men for more than 80 minutes.

Adelaide had Fabian Barbiero rightly sent off on eight minutes for hauling down Mark Bridge after the Sydney striker stole the ball off the Reds midfielder on the halfway line and was clean through on goal before being pulled back just outside the area.

Despite their numerical disadvantage, the home side opened the scoring after 30 minutes as Cristiano met Scott Jamieson's corner and powered home a header past a helpless Clint Bolton.

Reds defender Mark Rudan produced a last-ditch tackle to deny a charging Alex Brosque four minutes before the break as the Sydney striker broke into the area and was just about to pull the trigger on the edge of the six-yard box.

Slovakian midfielder Karol Kisel headed against the Adelaide post five minutes after the break. But four minutes later Jamieson and Cristiano again combined as the Brazilian headed the inviting free-kick into the bottom corner via a deflection from Sydney's Terry McFlynn.

Sydney set up a tense finish when Adelaide-born striker John Aloisi, on as a second-half substitute, headed home from close range after Eugene Galekovic could only parry McFlynn's shot from the edge of the area.

But a tiring Adelaide, helped out by a string of late substitutions, survived late pressure to move up to fifth.

It was Sydney's fourth defeat of the season, stopping the table-toppers adding to their two-point lead over Gold Coast United and Perth Glory.

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