Brisbane Roar have hit their goal-scoring stride in emphatic fashion, beating Hyundai A-League new boys Melbourne Heart 4-0 in a dominant display at Suncorp Stadium.
Goals from Kosta Barbarouses, Erik Paartalu, Reinaldo and Mitch Nichols sealed the win for Ange Postecoglou-s men, who put on arguably their best performance of the season against a Heart side who showed little sign of troubling Michael Theoklitos- goal.
Brisbane threatened early, with two free kicks falling to midfielders Thomas Broich and Matt McKay, but both attempts failed to trouble Clint Bolton between the posts for Melbourne Heart.
The Roar almost fell victim to an impressive ex-Socceroos link-up in the 19th minute, but when the Heart-s Josip Skoko put a telling cross into the Brisbane penalty box, John Alosi-s overhead kick flew high of the crossbar.
Brisbane drew the first blood in the 23rd minute, when Kosta Barbarouses opened the Roar-s account after finding himself in space in front of goal.
He played the ball to the left to the lively Broich who laid off a perfect ball for Shane Stefanutto to whip into the box to the unmarked Barbarouses.
The Kiwi striker moved the ball onto his right foot, and slotted into the back of the net with the help of a deflection off Heart skipper Simon Colosimo.
Barbarouses could have had another ten minutes later when Reinaldo laid off a perfect pass to his strike partner but Bolton was quick off his line and did well to smother the young striker-s shot.
Brisbane were beginning to find their rhythm, attacking the Heart defence from all areas.
Barbarouses then had a header cleared off the line, before hardworking holding midfielder Erik Paartalu-s low driving effort from the edge of the box heaped more pressure on the opposition-s back four.
The determination of the home side paid its dividends minutes later, hitting the back of the net through Paartalu.
After a poor defensive header found the Roar-s Matt Smith within range of the goal, the defender-s angled shot bounced off Paartalu-s knee to bring the score to 2-0.
Heading into the break, Brisbane had a chance to kill the game off with another goal, but Broich-s unselfish cut back was easily snuffed out by the Heart defenders.
Brisbane came bursting out of the blocks in the second stanza, and found themselves with an early penalty when Melbourne-s Dean Heffernan took down Reinaldo in the box and referee Chris Boyle had no hesitation in pointing to the spot.
Reinaldo held his composure and hit the ball to Bolton-s right, and then celebrated his first goal of the season with his trademark cartwheel and backflip.
The Heart almost hit back within minutes, but when Aloisi went to pull the trigger in front of goal, dependable defender Smith threw his body on the line to keep the Heart goalless.
The next attempt came from substitute Mitch Nichols, who replaced German playmaker Broich in the 56th minute.
From 25 yards out, Nichols hit a powerful effort on goal only to be denied by a superb diving effort from busy Bolton.
Reinaldo and Barbarouses then had half-chances to extend Brisbane-s lead, before Nichols- persistence in front of goal paid off, finding the back of the net for Brisbane-s fourth after a sweet one-two with McKay.
Even in the dying stages of the game, Brisbane showed no signs of slowing down with Reinaldo threatening the Heart goal on a number of occasions but when the final whistle blew, the score stood at 4-0, the biggest win in the Hyundai A-League so far this season.
Roar coach Ange Postecoglou applauded his team-s effort, saying their dominance from the opening whistle laid the foundation for the whole 90 minutes.
“I just thought our pressure was fantastic, especially after the first ten minutes and I think that-s what broke them in the end,” he said.
“We played some fantastic football but what was the basis for that was the pressure we put on them.
“We worked really hard defensively, we were compact, we didn-t give them a moment-s peace and I think that kind of led to the events that followed.
“I think it-s fair to say that we were good tonight and they obviously had a bit of a tough night for themselves.”
Brisbane Roar 4 (Kosta Barbarouses 23-, Erik Paartalu 37-, Reinaldo 48- (pen), Mitch Nichols 76-)
Melbourne Heart 0
Saturday, 125 September 2010
Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
Local kick-off: 5.15pm
Referee: Chris Boyle
Crowd: 6342
Brisbane Roar line-up: 1. Michael THEOKLITOS (gk), 2. Matt SMITH,3. Luke DEVERE (12. Matt MUNDY 75-), 4. Shane STEFANUTTO, 6. Erik PAARTALU, 7. Kosta BARBAROUSES, 8. Massimo MURDOCCA (14. Rocky VISCONTE 62-), 11. REINALDO, 15. Matt McKAY (c), 22. Thomas BROICH (17. Mitch NICHOLS 56-), 23. Milan SUSAK
Substitutes Not Used: 30. Matt ACTON (gk)
Yellow Cards: REINALDO 54-, Mitch NICHOLS 76-, Shane STEFANUTTO 90-
Red Cards: Nil
Melbourne Heart line-up: 1. Clint BOLTON (gk), 2. Michael MARRONE, 4. Simon COLOSIMO (c), 6. Matt THOMPSON, 7. Rutger WORM (24. Aziz BEHICH 45-), 9. Gerard SIBON, 10. Wayne SRHOJ, 11. Alex TERRA, 15. John ALOISI (22. Nicholas KALMAR 59-), 20. Josip SKOKO, 23. Dean HEFFERNAN
Substitutes Not Used: 12. Peter ZOIS (gk), 14. Kamal IBRAHIM,
Yellow Cards: Dean HEFFERNAN 48-, 54-, Alex TERRA 78-, Josip SKOKO 81-
Red Cards: Dean HEFFERNAN 54-
