Brisbane Roar secured their spot in the Bhausaheb Bandodkar Memorial Trophy Semi Finals with a 2-0 win against Sporting Clube De Goa at the Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on Friday night.
A pair of first half goals from Louis Zabala and Harry Van Der Saag sealed victory and second spot in Group A for Ruben Zadkovich’s side.
Zabala opened the scoring in the 40th minute when he turned home a Quinn MacNicol cross at the back post with a first-time finish.
Van Der Saag doubled Roar’s lead in first half stoppage time when he latched onto the end of an Adam Zimarino free-kick to head home his first goal for the club.
Friday’s match also saw a debut for 16-year-old defender, Lucas Herrington who started alongside James Durrington and Ivan Ozzi who all starred in the club’s youth set up this season.
Friday’s 2-0 win secures Roar’s spot in the final four where they will meet one of Odisha, Chennaiyin or Defensa y Justica on Tuesday night.
Speaking post-match, Brisbane Roar Head Coach, Ruben Zadkovich said he was pleased with the composed nature of his sides performance in Friday’s win.
“I thought we were really good, I was really impressed with the way we moved the ball and controlled the game,” Zadkovich said.
“We were very fluid in possession very compact and very proactive when we didn’t have the ball, we just totally controlled the game.
The Roar boss added his sides approach wouldn’t change ahead of Tuesday’s Semi Final against the Group B winners.
“Our game plan is very similar, we always try and control the game as much as we can with the ball and we want to be dominant, we want to make the other team work without the
Ball, we want to frustrate them and suffocate them in their own end, be dominant with our field position, we want to create chances and score goals and that’s not going to change,” Zadkovich said.
“But, I’m sure Odisha they’re going to have their own game plan too, they’re a very good side I know some of their players, I’m sure they’re very well coached so it’ll be a good test for my team and we look forward to the challenge.”
MATCH DETAILS
Bhausaheb Bandodkar Memorial Trophy: Sporting Clube De Goa vs Brisbane Roar
Friday, August 30
PJN Stadium, Fatorda
Sporting Clube De Goa –0
Brisbane Roar – 2 (Louis ZABALA 40′, Harry VAN DER SAAG 45+4′)
