Placed into a 16th-minute deficit when a Brody Burkitt-led press induced a calamitous turnover by keeper Harrison Devenish-Meares and allowed the 20-year-old to shoot/tackle the Reds ahead, Sydney's frustration was increasingly building at Allianz Stadium on Sunday.
Though able to reliably work the ball into dangerous areas in search of an equaliser, the hosts appeared to have left their shooting boots at home: frequently blasting wide and, in the rare moments when their radars were attuned, denied by Adelaide keeper Joshua Smits.
But when space opened outside the penalty area for Rhys Youlley to take a touch and drive an equaliser into the bottom corner in the 64th minute, a pressure valve was released for Patrick Kisnorbo's side.
They were ahead fewer than ten minutes later when substitute Akol Akon played Al Hassan Toure into space down the right, allowing him to dart forward and thread a pass across the face of goal for Nigerian striker Oriola Sunday to tap home.
Bodies on both sides fatigued, the game threatened to descend into chaos in the final minutes, but the hosts held on.
Beyond securing their first three points of the campaign, the result also secured Kisnorbo his first home win as Sydney boss at the fifth attempt – their previous win at the venue coming back in February, in one of Ufuk Talay's last games in charge.
That milestone secured, he'll now prepare to lead the Sky Blues into a showdown with Melbourne City, who he led to a title in 2021, next Saturday.
Losing their first domestic game of the campaign, the Reds' thoughts will turn to a mid-week Asian Champions League 2 clash with Singapore's Lions City Sailors.
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