The talk all week was Italian superstar veteran Alessandro Del Piero gracing Suncorp Stadium but in the end it was a near-vintage Brisbane Roar performance which stole the show.
The talk all week was Italian superstar veteran Alessandro Del Piero gracing Suncorp Stadium but in the end it was a near-vintage Brisbane Roar performance which stole the show.
Brisbane-s biggest crowd of the season were treated to a goalfest as Rado Vidosic-s men lifted themselves off the bottom of the Hyundai A-League ladder with a 4-2 win over Sydney FC.
Despite two impressive consolation efforts from the competition-s biggest marquee player, Del Piero, a dominant performance from Brisbane – including four different goal scorers – snapped its three-match losing streak.
The majority of the early goal-scoring chances fell to the home side with only a 16th minute Del Piero free-kick that was easily gathered by Roar shot-stopper Michael Theo the sole Sydney shot on target.
German playmaker Thomas Broich gave the Roar a deserved lead after 30 minutes, deceiving the Sky Blue defence by drifting his long-range free-kick into the back of the net.
Erik Paartalu scored Brisbane-s second three minutes later as Broich turned provider, netting the rebound after his close header forced a reactive save from Sydney FC goalkeeper Ivan Necevski.
Against the run of play, Sydney clawed one back after 42 minutes when Brett Emerton-s pass found Del Piero at the top of the penalty box and the Italian smashed his well-placed left-footed shot to Theo-s right.
But the Roar side responded in style, Ben Halloran scoring his first goal for the club with a curling first-time strike from the edge of the area to restore Brisbane-s two goal buffer.
Even with four goals in the opening half, the best was yet to come for the 22,970-strong crowd who were to witness two pieces of individual brilliance in the second half.
On the 50 minute mark, Del Piero-s undeniable class was on show as he skipped through the heart of the Brisbane defence to bag his second before Besart Berisha beat three defenders at the other end to score for the first time in four weeks.
The Albanian made amends for an earlier guilt-edged chance he spooned over the crossbar from inside the six yard box and his 13th minute goal that was ruled offside.
Brisbane were in cruise control for the remainder of the match except for a brief Sky Blue assault which saw Roar defender Ivan Franjic clear a shot from Yairo Yau off the line.
While Head Coach Rado Vidosic was pleased to secure the club-s second win of the current campaign, he saw both positives and negatives from his team-s performance.
“It was very good – the first half was probably brilliant,” he said.
“The way we pressed, the way we moved the ball, it was probably the best half so far in this A-League season.
“I was disappointed with the second half, it wasn-t good enough.
“We didn-t defend well enough, we didn-t move the ball quickly enough so there were lots of positives but unfortunately quite a few negatives as well.”
Brisbane Roar 4 (Thomas BROICH 30-, Erik PAARTALU 33-, Ben HALLORAN 45-, Besart BERISHA 57-)
Sydney FC 2 (Alessandro DEL PIERO 42-, 49-)
Friday, 16 November 2012
Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
Kick-off: 7pm
Referee: Alan Milliner
Crowd: 22,970
Brisbane Roar: 1. Michael THEO (gk), 2. Matt SMITH (c), 3. Shane STEFANUTTO, 5. Ivan FRANJIC, 6. Erik PAARTALU, 7. Besart BERISHA (18. Luke BRATTAN 82-), 8. Massimo MURDOCCA, 10. HENRIQUE (24. Nick FITZGERALD 78-), 11. Ben HALLORAN, 19. Jack HINGERT (4. Matthew JURMAN 81-), 22. Thomas BROICH
Substitutes not used: 20. Matthew ACTON (gk),
Yellow cards: Erik PAARTALU 71-
Red cards: Nil
Sydney FC: 1. Ivan NECEVSKI (gk), 2. Sebastian RYALL, 3. FABIO, 4. Pascal BOSSCHAART, 7. Brett EMERTON, 9. Paul REID (12. Blake POWELL 46-), 10. Alessandro DEL PIERO, 15. Terry McFLYNN (c), 21. Yairo YAU (16. Joel CHIANESE 78-), 22. Ali ABBAS (18. Trent McCLENAHAN 46-), 23. Rhyan GRANT
Substitutes not used: 20. Vedran JANJETOVIC (gk)
Yellow cards: FABIO 19-, Sebastian RYALL 29-, Alessandro DEL PIERO 55-, Yairo YAU 58-, Brett EMERTON 90-, Pascal BOSSCHAART 90+2-
Red cards: Nil
