Berisha magic keeps Brisbane roaring at the summit

Brisbane striker Besart Berisha’s poaching instincts have helped the Roar to all three points as he fired a brace in his side’s come from behind victory in Adelaide.

More than 8000 fans piled into Coopers Stadium to witness Besart Berisha pull another rabbit out of the hat, scoring his third and fourth goals in just three games since returning from injury.

The Albanian’s second stunned the Reds faithful as Berisha managed to nutmeg Jon McKain before pushing his way into the box. Under pressure from three Adelaide defenders and an onrushing Galekovic, Berisha fell to the ground but still managed to get a foot to the ball and poke it into the back of the net.

Brisbane now face a string of away fixtures in the coming weeks however Mulvey is confident his side can maintain their current form, with the help of their firebrand striker.

“It helps when you’ve got Besart who can score a goal on the ground with three people around him,” Mulvey said.

Osama Malik opened the scoring for United in the 7th minute with the ball falling fortuitously to the 23-year-old as Brisbane scrambled to clear a Marcelo Carrusca corner. Malik’s diving headed pushed the ball past a swathe of Roar defenders on the goal-line and sent the Red Army into raptures.

Berisha opened his account for the night with a 21st minute penalty after Corey Brown was brought down by Tarek Elrich, and the Roar marksman secured all three points after his freak goal in the 72nd minute.

“I asked him at 68 (minutes) how long he could last and he said ‘maybe 75th minute’,” Mulvey said.

“I said okay, only if you get us a goal.

“I might to say that every week because he did it for us,” he said.

After Berisha’s first strike, the Reds had a plethora of chances in the opening half to regain the lead but they couldn’t find the finishing touch to cap off their solid build-up play.

Brisbane ‘keeper Matthew Acton saved his side in the 37th minute after Reds winger Fabio Ferreira found himself one-on-one with the young gloveman. Adelaide’s Portuguese speedster aimed for the far corner but Acton’s reflexes were sharp and he managed to push the ball out for a corner.

Mulvey lauded Berisha’s defensive workrate with the striker dropping deep into his own half to reclaim possession when required.

“It’s not a one-man game,” Mulvey said

“He (Berisha) was part of the reason we lost the ball up front and he tracked back to look after his teammates.

“It’s an admirable trait and one we promote at the club,” he said.

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Adelaide Starting XI: Galekovic (c), McKain, Malik, Isaias, Cirio, Carrusca, Djite, Lustica, Zullo, Elrich, Ferreira

Adelaide Subs: Neumann, Golec, Mabil, Barker-Daish, Hall

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Brisbane Starting XI: Smith (c), Franjic, Berisha, Henrique, Donachie, McKay, Brattan, Hingert, Acton, Broich, Brown

Brisbane Subs: Miller, Ferreira, Petratos, Yeboah, Chalmers