A ten-man Brisbane Roar side has earned a tough point on the road, showing determination to record a 1-1 draw with Sydney FC at Allianz Stadium tonight despite playing more than 50 per cent of the match a player down.
A ten-man Brisbane Roar side has earned a tough point on the road, showing determination to record a 1-1 draw with Sydney FC at Allianz Stadium tonight despite playing more than 50 per cent of the match a player down.
After each side found the back of the net in the first half, the visitors still had the best chances in front of goal despite losing prolific striker Besart Berisha to a red card in the 40th minute.
The match started brightly with Brisbane keen on pressing the Sky Blues with their usual passing game while the home side seemed content to wait for their chances on the break.
The Roar broke the deadlock in the 23rd minute, a brilliant switch of play from Luke Brattan finding Thomas Broich on the opposite wing with the German providing a well-weighted cross for Berisha to head home close to goal.
Brisbane then conceded a goal through a set piece, Nikola Petkovic providing the corner for Sebastian Ryall to head into the goal at the far post, but it was just before half-time when the game reached its turning point.
A clash between the two goal-scorers resulted in a yellow card for the Sydney defender while New Zealand referee Peter O-Leary issued Berisha with a straight red card for what was perceived as reckless tackle.
Despite holding the numerical disadvantage, Brisbane continued to push forward in the second half and looked the better side in front of goal with most notably Irishman Liam Miller and substitute Henrique coming closest to finding the back of the net.
The Roar now face Melbourne Victory on Saturday, 22 March at Suncorp Stadium in round 23 of the Hyundai A-League 2013/14 season.
Sydney FC 1 (Sebastian RYALL 35-)
Brisbane Roar 1 (Besart BERISHA 23-)
Friday, 14 March 2014
Allianz Stadium, Sydney
Kick-off: 7.30pm local time / 6.30pm Brisbane time
Referee: Peter O-Leary
Sydney FC: 2. Sebastian RYALL (34. Aaron CALVER 60-), 5. Matthew JURMAN, 6. Nikola PETKOVIC, 9. Corey GAMIERO (16. Joel CHIANESE 66-), 11. Richard GARCIA (c) (27. Chris NAUMOFF 81-), 13. Sasa OGNENOVSKI, 17. Terry ANTONIS, 20. Vedran JANJETOVIC (gk), 22. Ali ABBAS, 24. Hagi GLIGOR, 29. Alex UROSEVSKI
Substitutes not used: 1. Ivan NECEVSKI (gk), 28. Matthew THOMPSON
Yellow cards: Sebastian RYALL 40-
Red cards:Nil
Brisbane Roar: 1. Michael THEO (gk), 2. Matthew SMITH (c), 3. Shane STEFANUTTO, 7. Besart BERISHA, 11. Liam MILLER (8. Steven LUSTICA 77-), 17. Matthew McKAY, 18. Luke BRATTAN, 19. Jack HINGERT, 22. Thomas BROICH, 23. Dimitri PETRATOS (10. HENRIQUE 77-), 26. Corey BROWN (14. Diogo FERREIRA 81-)
Substitutes not used: 20. Matthew ACTON (gk), 28. Brandon BORRELLO
Yellow cards: Corey BROWN 68-
Red cards: Besart BERISHA 40-
