A late strike from Awer Mabil has earned Adelaide United a 2-1 victory over Brisbane Roar in the A-League Finals.

It took Adelaide just seven minutes to open the scoring through Craig Goodwin, who found the back of the net with a thunderous free kick from 25 yards.

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The home side continued to control proceedings with Goodwin just failing to convert a Sergio Cirio cross, before up the other end, Brandon Borrello fired over the crossbar from a good position.

However, he wasn't made to rue that error as Brisbane equalised shortly before the half-hour mark. Thomas Broich reacted quickest to reach a loose ball inside the penalty area and he made no mistake in converting the ball under Eugene Galekovic.

Shortly before the break, Adelaide almost regained the advantage but despite getting on the end of a corner, Nigel Boogaard couldn't find the target with his header.

Soon after the restart, Pablo Sanchez headed over from a Cirio cross, and that proved to be the only significant chance ahead of the final stages of the game.

Adelaide improved in the final 15 minutes though, and Brisbane stopper Jamie Young twice had to be alert to keep out Cirio who was a constant threat for the home team.

With five minutes remaining, he denied Goodwin his second strike, but with three minutes remaining, Adelaide finally found the winning goal after Mabil forced the ball past Young who, despite getting a touch, couldn't keep it out.