Aldred’s stoppage-time leveller earns Roar a point against Auckland at Suncorp Stadium

Roar chased the game from the 11th minute and were rewarded at the very end. The hosts dominated the ball and had 19 shots to Auckland’s 12, and they kept pushing through the second half until Aldred struck deep into stoppage time to turn a long night of pressure into a hard-fought point.

First half

Roar made the brighter start at Suncorp Stadium, with Tate Russell seeing a left-footed shot from the right side of the box saved by Michael Woud in the 7th minute. Sabit Ngor then sent a header from a Nam Tae-Hee corner delivery high and wide to the right.

Against the run of play, the visitors went in front in the 11th minute. Hiroki Sakai struck a right-footed shot from outside the box into the bottom left corner to make it 1-0 to Auckland FC.

Roar responded and nearly drew level when Virgiliu Postolachi’s shot from outside the box was blocked, but Logan Rogerson then hit the bar for the visitors in the 17th minute. Justin Vidić was shown a yellow card for simulation in the 21st minute.

The hosts settled into a long spell of possession, with Nam Tae-Hee, Noah Maieroni and Tyrese Francois working the ball through midfield. Postolachi, Nam and Francois all had efforts blocked between the 25th and 30th minutes, as Roar kept probing for a way through.

Roar went closest just before the break. Ngor hit the left post with a left-footed shot from the centre of the box in the 39th minute after a Maieroni pass, and Postolachi headed high and wide from a Maieroni cross moments later. After four minutes of added time were signalled, Roar went into half-time trailing 1-0 despite having most of the ball.

Second half

Roar came out firing after the break, with Justin Vidić hitting the bar from the right side of the box in the 49th minute after a fast break and a Sabit Ngor assist. The visitors had their own moments soon after, with Lachlan Brook twice blocked and Logan Rogerson’s left-footed effort just missing to the right, before Ngor was shown a yellow card for a foul in the 53rd minute.

Michael Valkanis turned to fresh legs in the 58th minute, with Marko Ilic replacing Virgiliu Postolachi. Ilic set up Ngor in the 64th minute, but his left-footed shot from a tight angle was saved in the bottom left corner by Michael Woud. Tom Aldred’s long-range effort was then blocked, and Milorad Stajić headed wide from a Tate Russell cross after a corner.

Auckland made two changes in the 72nd minute, and Roar kept adding attacking options. Emin Durakovic replaced Stajić in the 75th minute and Nathan Amanatidis came on for Ngor a minute later, before Francis de Vries was booked for a foul in the 78th minute and Jordan Lauton replaced Tyrese Francois in the 82nd.

The hosts kept knocking, with Ilic just too high from a corner and Amanatidis seeing a left-footed shot blocked in the 85th minute. Four minutes of added time were signalled, and Amanatidis’s header in the first minute of stoppage time was saved by Woud. Auckland threatened too, with Lachlan Bayliss just wide.

Roar’s persistence paid off deep in stoppage time. Aldred had a header go just over and another blocked, before he struck right-footed from the centre of the box into the bottom left corner following a corner to make it 1-1 in the 95th minute. The final whistle followed shortly after, with Roar rewarded for refusing to let the game slip.

Full time

A point was the least the Roar deserved from a night that began badly at Suncorp Stadium. The hosts completed 530 of their 611 passes to Auckland’s 207 from 274, put four shots on target to the visitors’ one and forced Woud into three saves, yet they needed until stoppage time for the reward. It was a hard-fought, well earned point built on persistence, with Michael Valkanis’s side never stopping their search for a way back after falling behind early.

The head-to-head record adds to the sense of resilience. Before tonight Auckland had won three of the four previous meetings, with one draw, so the Roar are still chasing a first win over them. Pulling a game back from behind against that backdrop shows the character in this group, and the Brisbane Roar fans will take heart from a performance that created so much and finally found its payoff. The Roar will want to turn that control into goals earlier next time, but the way they kept pushing to the final whistle is something to build on as they look to push on.

Match details

Next match

Roar travel to face Macarthur FC at Campbelltown Sports Stadium on Sunday 8 November, with kick-off at 3:00pm local time, in a meeting between two sides level on points near the top of the table.