Brisbane Roar have suffered their first home defeat of the Hyundai A-League 2016-17 season with a 3-2 loss against Newcastle Jets on Saturday afternoon.
A late goal to Morten Nordstrand secured the victory for the visitors as the Roar were forced to pay for not translating possesion into goal-scoring chances.
Head Coach John Aloisi was disappointed that his side couldn’t capitalise on a good start and believes they lacked creativity.
“We’re disappointed at 1-0 that we couldn’t go on to make it 2-0 or 3-0. We weren’t good enough today to capitalise on the chance we created,” Aloisi said.
“They didn’t create a lot but they took their chances. We weren’t as creative in the final third as we would like but I don’t think we defended badly.
“We’ll keep working hard at training and keep believing. We’ll look at what we did well and look at what we didn’t do so well and keep trying to improve.”
A thunderbolt from Tommy Oar opened the scoring on 15 minutes, preceding a period of dominance by the Roar in which Oar went close twice to finding the back of the net again.
The Roar’s early passing game lit up the 14,470-strong crowd at Suncorp Stadium with a number of well-worked combinations leading to changes infront of Jack Duncan’s goal.
Relentless pressure off the ball from the Roar heaped the pressure on the Jets defence who struggled to clear their lines.
The game opened up as half-time approached and both sides threatened in an entertaing end-to-end period of play. The Jets restored parity on the stroke of half-time as Andrew Hoole took advantage of space on the edge of the area to fire a bullet home in off the post.
The visitors created a few chances at the beginning of the second half with Andrew Nabbout twice calling on Michael Theo to make regulation saves.
Brisbane continued to use the flanks as their main avenue to goal with Thomas Broich involved in a number of attacks, as well as overlapping runs from fullbacks Corey Brown and Jack Hingert.
The Jets hit the front with 20 minutes remaining as Jason Hoffman’s cross floated to the back post where it was met squarely by Nabbout who tucked his header inside the left post.
A grandstand finish was set-up when Jamie Maclaren converted from the penalty spot for his seventh goal of the Hyundai A-League season following a foul from Nigel Boogaard on Hingert from which the Jets captain earned a yellow card.
Morten Nordtsrand restored the Jets lead just moments later, capitalising on spilt ball close to goal.
The Roar threw numbers forward in search of an equaliser but were unsuccesful as the Jets become the first side to win at Suncorp Stadium this season.
Goals
15′: Thomas Broich closes down an opponent and deflects a pass straight to Tommy Oar. The bounces up of Oar’s first touch, sits nicely and the winger hits a sweetly-struck volley inside the right post. 1-0
45+1′: Andrew Hoole weaves his way through the Roar defence before firing a bullet in off the left post. 1-1
72′: Jason Hoffman’s cross floats to the back post where Andrew Nabbout finishes with a well-placed header inside the left post. 1-2
82′: Nigel Boogaard fouls Jack Hingert in the area and Kurt Ams points to the spot. Up steps Jamie Maclaren who fires home to Duncan’s right. 2-2
84′: Morten Nordstrand capitalises on a loose ball in the area and converts from close range. 2-3
Talking Point
The Roar’s 13-match unbeaten home run has come to an end. The Roar’s next home match is in three weeks when they’ll meet Western Sydney Wanderers.
What’s next?
Brisbane face consecutive away trips, firstly to AAMI Park to face Melbourne Victory on Friday, 13 January (6:50pm KO) before the only trip across the Tasman this season to play Wellington Phoenix on Saturday, 21 January (4:35pm KO).
Match Stats
Hyundai A-League Round 15, Brisbane Roar v Newcastle Jets, Saturday, 7 January at Suncorp Stadium
Brisbane Roar 2 (Oar 15′, Maclaren 82′ p.)
Newcastle Jets 3 (Hoole 45+1′, Nabbout 72′, Nordstrand 84′)
Half-time: 1-1
Crowd: 14,470
Brisbane Roar FC: 1.Michael THEO (gk), 3.Luke DEVERE, 5.Corey BROWN, 7.Thomas KRISTENSEN (8.Jacob PEPPER 64′), 9.Jamie MACLAREN, 11.Tommy OAR (15.ARANA 67′), 13.Jade NORTH, 17. Matt MCKAY (c), 19.Jack HINGERT, 22.Thomas BROICH, 23.Dimitri PETRATOS (28.Brandon BORRELLO 73′)
Unused substitutes: 4.Daniel BOWLES, 21.Jamie YOUNG (gk)
Yellow cards: Jack HINGERT 62′, Brandon BORRELLO 74′, Michael THEO 84′
Red cards: Nil
Newcastle Jets FC: 3.Jason HOFFMAN, 4.Nigel BOOGAARD (c), 6.Steven UGARKOVIC, 7.Andrew HOOLE, 8.Mateo POLJAK, 10.Wayne BROWN (18.MA Leilei 46′), 15.Andrew NABBOUT, 16.Nicholas COWBURN (28.John KOUTROUMBIS 88′), 19.Morten NORDSTRAND (23.Devante CLUT 90′), 20.Jack DUNCAN (gk), 22.Lachlan JACKSON
Unused substitutes: 2.Daniel MULLEN, 30.Pierce CLARK (gk)
Yellow cards: Ma LEI LEI 77′
Red cards: Nil
Referee: Kurt Ams; Assistant Referee 1: David Walsh; Assistant Referee 2: Andrew Lindsay; Fourth Official: Peter Green
