Western United and Adelaide have stood tallest in the A-League elimination finals, navigating a couple of tense matches to set up two huge semi-final ties against Victory and City respectively.

Former PAOK striker Aleksandar Prijovic powered the Green and Black club to their second semi-finals berth in three seasons, downing a valiant Wellington Phoenix side.

Adelaide United beat a tough Central Coast outfit to keep their A-League campaign and hopes of a championship trophy alive.

Adelaide United-Central Coast 3-1

The South Australians defeated the Mariners to record their sixth straight win on Sunday afternoon, setting up a huge semi-final tie against the premiers and defending league champions, Melbourne City.

The Reds capitalised on a loose ball and a defensive error to take the lead, with skipper Craig Goodwin guiding the ball into the bottom left corner to give his side the lead (26′).

Goodwin then turned provider for their second, delivering an excellent cross which was tapped in on the volley by striker Kusini Yengi (67′).

The Gosford club pulled one back after a cutback pass across goal was smashed in by defender Storm Roux (71′) before the hosts secured their place in the semi-finals with a late deflected effort from range by substitute forward Bernardo Oliveira (90+2′).

Adelaide manager Carl Veart was impressed with his players’ efforts in largely nullifying the Mariners’ threat, especially given the risky nature of knockout competition.

“He (Joe Gauci) had one or two shots to save but other than that, I thought he was fairly comfortable. It’s finals football. It’s always on a knife’s edge, it can go either way, and our boys were tremendous,” Mr Veart said post-match.

Western United-Wellington Phoenix 1-0

Western United held their nerve in a supreme battle of defences on Saturday evening, ending Wellington’s season as they now prepare for two tough semi-finals games against Melbourne Victory.

The Victorian club took an early lead through marksman Aleksandar Prijovic, with the striker smashing the ball from a tight angle into the absolute top right corner (10′).

Both teams produced a number of chances but they all amounted to nothing, either going off-target or being kept out masterfully by the two goalkeepers, with the hosts holding on for the win.

Midfielder Jerry Skotadis played the first 69 minutes for the Green and Black outfit.

Western manager John Aloisi heaped praise on his players who, along with the club, have overcome a lot of adversity this season to reach the semi-finals.

“They never put their heads down, they keep going. We had a pretty poor last week in terms of results but the finals are different and we proved that tonight because we got the win that we wanted,” Mr Aloisi said post-match.

A-League semi-finals fixtures (AEST)

First leg

Western United-Melbourne Victory: 16.05, Tue 17 May

Adelaide United-Melbourne City: 19.05, Wed 18 May

Second leg

Melbourne Victory-Western United: 17.15, Sat 21 May

Melbourne City-Adelaide United: 14.05, Sun 22 May