Brisbane Roar have climbed to second on the Isuzu UTE A-League ladder with a 2-0 away win over Adelaide United at Coopers Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Second half strikes from Jez Lofthouse and Jay O’Shea sealed Roar’s first victory over United at Coopers Stadium since December 2017.
Neither side was able to find a breakthrough in the first half with a Taras Gomulka headed goal against his former club ruled out for offside by the VAR.
Lofthouse broke the deadlock two minutes into the second stanza when his deflected first-time strike on the end of a Nikola Mileusnic cut-back wrong footed Joe Gauci and found it’s way into the back of the net.
O’Shea doubled the Roar’s lead in the 54th minute when he slammed home a spot-kick after being fouled by Lachlan Barr inside the area for what was his third goal of the season.
The 35-year-old Irish midfielder is now level with Henry Hore and Nikola Mileusnic as the club’s leading scorers in the league so far this season.
Roar’s injury list suffered a hit with defenders Antonee Burke-Gilroy and Scott Neville both forced off after going down in the first half.
Sunday’s victory sees Roar climb to second on the A-League ladder after seven rounds of action, just a point shy of league leading Macarthur.
Speaking post-match Brisbane Roar Head Coach, Ross Aloisi said he was proud of his side following another impressive shift.
“It was difficult for the boys, especially having those two injuries in the first half – that didn’t make things easy at all,” Aloisi said.
“But in saying that, I’m extremely proud of the performance, we wanted to improve on what we did last week as well.
“I keep saying it but we have a lot of goalscoring opportunities – clear cut ones, I’d like to actually put the game to bed earlier than what we’ve been doing but overall a great performance.”
Next up for Aloisi’s side is a trip to face Western United, who are coached by his brother John at AAMI Park on Friday night.
MATCH DETAILS
Isuzu UTE A-League Men 2023/24 – Round 7: Adelaide United v Brisbane Roar
Coopers Stadium, Adelaide
Sunday, 10 December
Adelaide United – 0
Brisbane Roar – 2 (Jez LOFTHOUSE 47’, Jay O’SHEA 54’)
