Jeronimo seals victory for Reds

Jeronimo missed a contentious penalty but a minute later made amends with a deft finish as the Reds banked consecutive wins to open their season.

Wanderers midfielder Mateo Poljak went within a whisker of scoring the fledgling club's first A-League goal.

But Jeronimo's classy second-half strike dealt defeat to Western Sydney after its scoreless draw on debut against Central Coast Mariners last week.

Jeronimo was played into space in the 69th minute by a shrewd Iain Ramsay pass and the Argentine closed on goal as Wanderers goalkeeper Ante Covic made a make-or-break dash towards him.

Jeronimo coolly placed a left-footer past the approaching keeper and it trickled into the net to delight the 8,950 spectators at Hindmarsh Stadium.

A minute earlier, Jeronimo failed to convert a penalty after Adelaide winger Fabian Ferreira went to ground after jostling with Wanderers defender Nikolai Topor-Stanley.

While the penalty call appeared harsh, Jeronimo pushed his spot kick too close to Covic, who made a relatively comfortable save diving to his left.

The minute of action came after an opening half punctuated by skill errors and turnovers, with Poljak's near-miss in the 32nd minute a rare highlight.

Poljak launched a speculative 30-metre shot which caught Adelaide goalkeeper Eugene Galekovic off guard - the Reds captain parried with one glove with the ball bouncing up nicely for him to regather.

The Wanderers also had a late chance to equalise when Labinot Haliti found space in the box in the 88th minute, but his well-connected header was cut off by Galekovic.