Opportunities came thick and fast for the Brisbane Roar in their Isuzu UTE A-League Men clash on Saturday evening, but despite a dominant display, Perth Glory held firm with the match finishing 1-1 at Redcliffe.
Upon kickoff, the Den roared to life, urging the men in orange forward with spirited chants in the grandstands of Kayo Stadium.
Seven minutes in, the Roar crafted the game’s opening chance. Costa Rican international Youstin Salas floated in a curling cross to the far left post, where Sam Klein rose to meet it. His header lacked venom and Glory keeper Matt Sutton collected.
Just past the quarter-hour, the Roar earned a free kick outside the box. Jay O’Shea laid it off to Chris Long, who drilled in a low rocket from long range. It sliced past a diving Sutton and rippled into the bottom left corner of the net to give the Roar a 1-0 lead.
Just minutes later, the Western Australian visitors levelled the scores when Callum Timmins whipped in a curling cross from the right flank. Salas tracked back to cut out the onrushing Glory attack, but the ball ricocheted off him and into the goal.
The men in orange pressed relentlessly for a second and came closest minutes before halftime. O’Shea arced a free kick in from the left corner of the pitch, and Nicholas D’Agostino rose highest among a cluster of Perth defenders to nod it goalward, but it cannoned back off the crossbar and was cleared.
The sides entered the break in a 1-1 deadlock.
In the opening stages of the second half, the Roar enjoyed the larger share of possession but were unable to breach the well-marshalled Glory defence.
Just past the 60 minute mark, forward Stefan Colakovski broke through and launched a Perth counterattack, powering towards Dean Bouzanis in goal. The Roar defence recovered quickly and blocked his cutback to extinguish the danger.
Down the other end, five minutes later, Sam Klein slipped a pinpoint through-ball past Glory’s defence to Michael Ruhs, who flashed his shot just wide of the post as the Den roared the home side on as they searched for a winner.
In stoppage time, the Roar came agonisingly close once again when James McGarry swung in a corner for Marius Lode, but his header was tipped wide by a diving save from Sutton.
The men in orange continued to create chance after chance in the closing stages but were unable to find the elusive goal, and the match finished 1-1.
The Roar now turn their attention to Western Sydney Wanderers, with the clash set for March 13 at Suncorp Stadium.
