A strong and organised Western Sydney Wanderers outfit has handed Brisbane Roar a slim 1-0 defeat at Suncorp Stadium.
A strong and organised Western Sydney Wanderers outfit has handed Brisbane Roar a slim 1-0 defeat at Suncorp Stadium.
In similar fashion to their opening three matches, Western Sydney was compact in defence which made it difficult for the Roar to implement their usual passing style.
The Brisbane team weren-t struggling to string together passes but the high backline of the Wanderers meant the final breakthrough ball was hard to squeeze through.
The visitors were confident in attack and producing chances of their own, most notably playmaker Aaron Mooy-s shot hitting both goalposts before bouncing away to safety after four minutes.
Roar-s Erik Paartalu resorted to a long-range effort on the 11 minute mark but his strike fell straight into the arms of goalkeeper Ante Covic.
Even when Western Sydney took the lead in the 18th minute – striker Mark Bridge netting his club-s first ever goal in the Hyundai A-League – the Roar stuck to their game plan.
The woodwork then played a vital role at the other end of the Suncorp Stadium pitch, denying attacking midfielder Mitch Nichols his second of the season when he struck a powerful shot just before the half-time interval.
Needing a spark, Head Coach Rado Vidosic introduced Brazilian livewire Henrique on the hour mark but the elusive equaliser was proving harder and harder to find as the match wore on.
Goalkeeper Michael Theo needed to be on his toes as well with Youssouf Hersi of the Wanderers forcing him to an acrobatic save to deny the away side a second goal.
Western Sydney were buoyed by their early goal and held on to secure their first win in their short history, subjecting the Roar to their second loss of the current campaign.
Head Coach Rado Vidosic reflected on his side-s defeat in the post-match press conference.
“I thought the game was quite interesting for neutrals,” he said.
“It was end-to-end stuff, maybe something we didn-t want, but unfortunately we just could not control the play a little bit better in their half.”
Brisbane Roar 0
Western Sydney Wanderers 1 (Mark BRIDGE 18-)
Saturday, 27 October 2012
Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
Kick off: 6.45pm local time
Referee: Lucien Lavendure
Crowd: 12,663
Brisbane Roar: 1. Michael THEO (gk), 2. Matt SMITH (c), 3. Shane STEFANUTTO, 4. Matt JURMAN, 6. Erik PAARTALU (18. Luke BRATTAN 84-), 7. Besart BERISHA, 8. Massimo MURDOCCA (10. HENRIQUE 58-), 11. Ben HALLORAN, 17. Mitch NICHOLS, 19. Jack HINGERT, 22. Thomas BROICH
Substitutes not used: 13. Yuji TAKAHASHI, 20. Matt ACTON (gk)
Yellow cards: Nil
Red cards: Nil
Western Sydney Wanderers: 1. Ante COVIC (gk), 3. Adam D-APUZZO, 4. Nikolai TOPOR-STANLEY, 5. Michael BEAUCHAMP (c), 6. Jerome POLENZ, 8. Mateo POLJAK, 10. Aaron MOOY, 13. Joseph GIBBS, 17. Youssouf HERSI (14. Kwabena APPIAH-KUBI 76-), 19. Mark BRIDGE (11. Tarek ELRICH 82-), 21. Shinji ONO (23. Jason TRIFIRO 70-)
Substitutes not used: 20. Jerrad TYSON
Yellow cards: Mark BRIDGE 37-, Aaron MOOY 45-, Michael BEAUCHAMP 90-
Red cards: Nil
