Brisbane Roar’s undefeated streak has come to an end courtesy of a 2-0 loss at the hands of Sydney FC at WIN Jubilee Oval, Kogarah.
Brisbane Roar-s undefeated streak has come to an end courtesy of a 2-0 loss at the hands of Sydney FC at WIN Jubilee Oval, Kogarah.
Two first half goals were enough to give Sydney the points in a game played in cool, windy conditions.
Brisbane got off to the worst possible start, conceding a goal in the first minute of the game.
Besart Berisha fouled Pascal Boschaart in a heading contest, the Sydney player played a quick free-kick and Dimitri Petratos buried the ball in the far corner of the goal from the edge of the box.
The match settled after the early goal with both teams battling for midfield supremacy in difficult conditions.
The wind played its part in the second Sydney goal, with Brett Emerton-s corner caught by the wind and Michael Theoklitos unable to keep the ball out as it swung wickedly to the near post and in despite the goalkeeper-s best efforts.
Mitch Nichols looked to strike back quickly when a loose ball fell to him on the edge of the box and while the well-struck shot had Liam Reddy scrambling in the Sydney goal the effort went just wide of the mark.
Despite the scoreline, the game remained tight in the midfield with neither team maintaining dominance for any significant duration.
Brisbane had a great chance in the shadows of half-time to grab a goal back through some good work by Ivan Franjic and Issey Nakajima-Farran down the right.
A great combination allowed the Canadian international to burst into the box but neither Besart Berisha nor Henrique could get on the end of his well struck cross along the face of goal.
The away team started the second half with great tempo, pushing Sydney deep early.
Brisbane nearly had a goal three minutes after the restart when Berisha swivelled and shot on a through ball from Nakajima-Farran, but Reddy was equal to the task, pushing the ball to safety from close range.
The action began to open up with Brisbane pushing for a goal and Sydney playing effectively on the counter.
Petratos nearly profited from the play as he was sprung forward by Emerton, but dragged his shot the wrong side of the post.
Substitute Luke Brattan had a chance immediately after taking the field when with a free-kick from the edge of the box, but he pulled his shot wide of the mark.
Try as they might Brisbane were unable to create the clear-cut chance they needed to get back into the contest as the minutes ticked away.
In fact, Sydney nearly went further in front when Juho Makela pounced on a mistake by Mohamed Adnan, but Theoklitos was able to make the stop to keep the score at 2-0, which is how the match ended.
At the conclusion of the match, Brisbane Roar Head Coach Ange Postecoglou said while his side put in great effort during the match, they were beaten by the better side on the day.
“Conceding the early goal set us on the back foot a little bit and I thought Sydney were really good after that, they were really committed,” Postecoglou said.
“We didn-t really get into any sort of rhythm during the game, we found it difficult to get going.
“Credit to Sydney, they stuck to their task for 90 minutes which is something a lot of teams haven-t been able to do so far.
“Sometimes the opposition are just better than you on the day and they were.”
Sydney FC 2 (Petratos 1-, Emerton 19-)
Brisbane Roar 0
At WIN Jubilee Oval, Kogarah
Referee: Peter Green
Crowd: 11,555
Sydney FC: 1. Liam Reddy, 3. Jamie Coyne, 4. Pascal Bosschaart, 5. Michael Beauchamp, 7. Brett Emerton, 8. Karol Kisel, 9. Bruno Cazarine (18. Juho Makela 66-), 10. Nick Carle (23. Rhyan Grant 82-), 11. Dimitri Petratos (2. Sebastian Ryall 88-), 12. Shannon Cole, 15. Terry McFlynn.
Substitutes (not used): 20. Ivan Necevski (gk).
Yellow cards: Bruno Cazarine (42-), Karol Kisel (63-), Juho Makela (76-)
Red cards: Nil
Brisbane Roar: 1. Michael Theoklitos, 2-. Matt Smith, 3. Shane Stefanutto, 4. Matt Jurman, 5. Ivan Franjic, 6. Erik Paartalu, 7. Besart Berisha, 8. Massimo Murdocca (18. Luke Brattan 62-), 10. Henrique (16. Mohamed Adnan 83-), 11. Issey Nakajima-Farran (21. James Meyer 59-)
Substitutes (not used): 30. Matt Acton (gk).
Yellow cards: Nil
Red cards: Nil
