Brisbane Roar and Sydney FC have shared the points in a 1-1 draw in Isuzu UTE A-League Round 20 action at Allianz Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Robert Mak put Sydney FC ahead midway through the second half before Henry Hore found a leveller three minutes later against a Sky Blues side who finished with ten men after a Jake Girdwood-Reich red card.
The best chance of the opening exchanges fell to Marco Rojas, who got in behind the Sydney defence but couldn’t direct his effort either side of Andrew Redmayne, who stood tall when facing the Kiwi one-on-one.
The game was turned on it’s head in the 25th minute when Girdwood-Reich had a yellow card upgraded to red by VAR for a lunging challenge on Nikola Mileusnic.
Roar came close to making their numerical advantage count in the 31st minute when a scuffed Mileusnic strike came back off the woodwork on the end of some brilliant interplay between Rojas and Keegan Jelacic.
Despite being down a man Sydney fashioned several chances of their own in the closing stages of the first half, coming closest through a Fabio Gomes header that cannoned back off the crossbar.
Jelacic had a one-on-one chance of his own in the 52nd minute but again Redmayne came up trumps to deny the midfielder.
It was the home side who drew first blood in the 64th minute through Mak, who placed a decisive finish into the bottom corner after being picked out by Rhyan Grant inside the area.
Just three minutes later Roar levelled the scores through Hore, who slammed home a Corey Brown cross with an emphatic first-time finish for what was his fourth league goal of the season.
Redmayne was the hero for the home side in the closing stages, producing another pair of big saves to deny a Jez Lofthouse header and close range Jonas Markovski effort.
Sunday’s 1-1 draw sees Roar finish the weekend in eighth position on the A-League ladder, just two points outside the competition’s top six with six matches left to play in the regular season.
Brisbane Roar are back at home next weekend taking on Macarthur in Isuzu UTE A-League Round 21 action at Ballymore on Saturday afternoon. Get your tickets HERE
ALM R20 Press Conference: Ruben Zadkovich
ALM R20 Post Match: Keegan Jelacic
MATCH DETAILS
Isuzu UTE A-League Men 2023/24 – Round 20: Sydney FC v Brisbane Roar
Allianz Stadium, Sydney
Sunday, 10 March
Sydney FC – 1 (Robert MAK 64’)
Brisbane Roar – 1 (Henry HORE 67’)
