Brisbane Roar will look to next week’s match against Sydney FC to regroup after going down to an in-form Adelaide United 1-4 at Suncorp Stadium on Friday night.
The home side dominated possession against the Reds but lacked the spark needed to finish their chances and threaten Adelaide United goalkeeper Eugene Galekovic.
Despite losing in consecutive weeks, Brisbane Head Coach John Aloisi said his players would bounce back from what he called a minor drop in form.
“We need to stay strong as a group, stay strong as a club which I’m sure we will and our supporters will keep supporting us through a tough little patch we’ve had,“ Aloisi said.
“No doubt my players will come back. Where we’ve come from is amazing, so I have no problem with my players coming back from this little hurdle.
” It looks bad to concede eight in two, but this side has a lot of character and we’ll get through this period because we’ve got winners in this side. “
Aloisi made three changes to the team that lost 4-0 to Melbourne Victory with goalkeeper Michael Theo (below) making his long-awaited return from injury while Corey Brown and Dimitri Petratos replaced Shane Stefanutto (suspended) and Jean Carlos Solorzano (injured) respectively.
Adelaide United striker Bruce Djite stole the headlines with the Reds’ number 11 bagging two goals in his side’s win to end his 23-hour goal drought.
The away side took the lead in the 19th minute after a low cross from Adelaide winger Craig Goodwin found Pablo Sanchez in the area, whose shot deflected off Roar defender Brown.
The boys in Orange started the second half brightly and equalised through fan favourite Henrique, who converted a penalty he had won following a foul in the area by Isaias.
The Roar’s hard work was undone however with the Reds bagging two goals in 11 minutes to silence the home crowd.
Theo was disappointed the side conceded so soon after equalising.
“They took their chances so credit to them. To concede straight after scoring is disappointing but it’s back to the training pitch and we’ll move on,” he said.
The Roar can look forward to the return of Olyroos Jamie Maclaren, Brandon Borrello and James Donachie, who are returning from international duty, for the clash against Sydney FC at the Allianz Stadium on Saturday, 30 January.
Words by JACOB CHICCO and AARON COOPER
Goals
19’: A low cross from Adelaide United winger Craig Goodwin into the area finds Pablo Sanchez whose shot ricochets off Corey Brown for an own goal. 0-1
50’: Henrique is fouled in the box by Isaias and does well to convert the resulting penalty to square the contest. 1-1
56’: Bruce Djite converts a penalty to put the away side back in front after Adelaide United defender Dylan McGowan is fouled in the air by Jack Hingert. 1-2
67’: Tarek Elrich plays a delicate through ball for Djite to run on to and the Adelaide striker finishes past Michael Theo to claim his second goal of the night. 1-3
90+3’: The ball comes to Marcelo Carrusca who fires his shot into the top corner after Tarek Elrich made a brilliant run from the left wing into the Roar penalty area. 1-4
Talking point
The two penalties. They didn’t change the eventual outcome but the one awarded to Adelaide United certainly stalled the Roar’s comeback momentum at 1-1.
Quote unquote
Brisbane Roar Head Coach JOHN ALOSI: “We know that we have to cut out the mistakes and errors.
“We need to defend better. We had the majority of possession and it creates more pressure on ourselves when we give opposition those opportunities.
“Credit to Adelaide, they defended well. But we still need to be good enough to create chances and be solid in defence, which we weren’t tonight.
“In the second half we started off really well. We got into really good areas and we thought with the goal that we would lift, but it was a shame to give away a silly goal, which changed the dynamic of the game.”
(On the absence of the Olyroos) “You want all your best players. I would love to have that headache I had two months ago when all my players were fit and they’re fighting for positions. If you take six players out of every side they’re going to find it a little bit hard.
“We’ll learn from the mistakes that we’re getting punished for. Teams aren’t outplaying us, they’re not dominating us, and we’re getting punished. We have to make sure we cut out those errors and defend better.”
Adelaide United Head Coach GUILLERMO AMOR: “The reason for this win is the work of the players. They never give up, even in their worst moments. Even in the bad moments when the results were not coming they kept working with the same attitude and intensity and they deserve the result today.”
(On the knee injury to Eli Babalj) “He’s a little bad, his knee is the possible problem. We’ll see tomorrow and wait for the results.”
What’s next
The Roar are up against fellow top-four side Sydney FC in a tricky away test at Allianz Stadium next Saturday, 30 January (6.30pm kick off Qld time). Then they are back home against Central Coast Mariners on Saturday, 6 February (4.15pm KO) when the two millionth fan mark WILL be reached. To book your seats and be in the running for great prizes to celebrate the milestone click here
Match stats
Hyundai A-League Round 16, Friday, 22 January at Suncorp
Brisbane Roar 1 (Henrique 50’ (pen))
Adelaide United 4 (Brown OG 19’, Djite 56’ 67’, Carrusca 90+3)
Half time: 0-1
Crowd: 12,923
Brisbane Roar FC: 1.Michael THEO (gk), 5.Corey BROWN, 7.CORONA, 10.HENRIQUE, 13.Jade NORTH, 14.Daniel BOWLES, 17.Matt McKAY (c), 18.Javier HERVAS (8.Steven LUSTICA 65’), 19.Jack HINGERT, 22.Thomas BROICH, 23.Dimitri PETRATOS (16.Devante CLUT 76’)
Unused substitutes: 20.Shannon BRADY, 21.Jamie YOUNG (gk), 33. Luke DEVERE
Yellow cards: Jade NORTH 40’, Devante CLUT 90’
Red cards: Nil
Adelaide United FC: 1.Eugene GALEKOVIC (gk) (c), 3.Iacopo LA ROCCA, 4.Dylan McGOWAN, 7.PABLO SANCHEZ, 8.ISAIAS, 10.Marcelo CARRUSCA, 11.Bruce DJITE (19.Eli BABALJ 81’, 24.Bruce KAMAU 85’), 14.George MELLS, 16.Craig GOODWIN (17.Mate DUGANDZIC 67’), 21.Tarek ELRICH, 23.Jordan ELSEY,
Unused substitutes: 15.Ben Warland, 30.Daniel MARGUSH (gk)
Yellow cards: Dylan McGOWAN 45’, Iacopo LA ROCCA 49’, PABLO SANCHEZ 52’, Marcelo CARRUSCA 68’,
Red cards: Nil
Referee: Jarred Gillett; Assistant Referee 1: David Walsh; Assistant Referee 2: Anton Shchetinin Fourth Official: Alex King
