Brisbane Roar suffered a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Macarthur in Isuzu UTE A-League Round 21 action at Ballymore Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Florin Berenguer’s third Roar goal wasn’t enough against a Macarthur side who fought back to take the points through strikes from Tomi Uskok and Raphael Borges Rodrigues.
Berenguer opened the scoring in the 14th minute when he pounced to finish at the back post after Kurto could only parry Marco Rojas’ initial effort into the midfielder’s path.
Uskok levelled the scores in the 26th minute with a towering header at the back post to turn home from a Clayton Lewis corner.
Raphael put the visitors in front in the 42nd minute he slammed home a bouncing ball after Kearyn Baccus’s deflected strike fell favourably to the forward inside the area.
Roar pushed hard for an equaliser in the second stanza coming closest through Rojas in the 78th minute when the midfielder made a mesmerising run at the Bulls defence before smashing his effort against the woodwork.
Minutes earlier Thomas Waddingham was inches away from an equaliser when he fired a first-time effort over the bar from close range.
Saturday’s 2-1 defeat which brings to an end a four match unbeaten run at home under Ruben Zadkovich leaves Roar in eighth position on the A-League ladder, five points outside the top six heading into the international break.
Saturday’s match also saw defensive duo Corey Brown and Kai Trewin make their 150th and 100th Brisbane Roar A-League appearances respectively.
Brown becomes just the seventh player to reach 150 A-League Men’s matches for the Roar while Trewin is the first academy product to hit a century of appearances for the club.
Next up for Roar is a trip to face leagues leaders Wellington Phoenix at Sky Stadium on Easter Sunday.
MATCH DETAILS
Isuzu UTE A-League Men 2023/24 – Round 21: Brisbane Roar v Macarthur FC
Ballymore Stadium, Herston
Saturday, 16 March
Brisbane Roar – 1 (Florin BERENGUER 14’)
Macarthur FC – 2 (Tomislav USKOK 26’, Raphael BORGES RODRIGUES 42’)
