Melbourne Victory has moved to 5th on the ladder after an electric 2-1 win over Brisbane Roar at Suncorp Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Both clubs entered the match languishing in foreign territory in the bottom half of the table only intensifying the importance of exiting with all three points for either side.
Melbourne burst out of the blocks in relentless fashion with only a string of outstanding Jamie Young saves denying an early opening goal for the visitors.
An onslaught of Victory attacking raids eventually broke through however after a corner delivered by Leroy George found Rhys Williams in the box to dispatch a powerful header into the top left of the net, his first goal since October 2011 whilst at Middlesbrough FC.
Minutes later Melbourne would double their advantage courtesy of a sublime low cross from Leroy George to a crashing Kosta Barbarouses on the far post to cap off a dominant opening twenty minutes.
After a lacklustre first half the Roar seemingly kicked into gear in the second stanza following Matt McKay’s brilliant thread through ball into the feet of Massimo Maccarone who made no mistake, finishing the chance calmly to reduce the deficit to 2-1.
The ever-present Besart Berisha was in the thick of the action as usual and thought for all money he had sealed the match in the dying minutes of the match following a trademark slaloming run and pinpoint finish.
VAR though would rule out Victory’s 3rd goal sighting a Berisha handball in the leadup infuriating Berisha in another polarising VAR moment for the A-League.
Both sides battled attrition in the match as the harsh Brisbane heat took its toll with Ivan Franjic, Petros Skapetis and Leigh Broxham all exiting throughout the second period with potential injury or illness.
Brisbane host Perth Glory on Thursday night in a short turnaround whilst Victory now head home to prepare for the Melbourne Derby on Saturday night in the last A-League fixture before Christmas.
Brisbane Roar FC 1 (Maccarone 56′)
Melbourne Victory 2 (Williams 12′, Barbarouses 19′)
Suncorp Stadium (10,225)
Referee: Peter GREEN
Assistant Referee: Anton SHCHETININ and Andrew LINDSAY
Fourth Official: Adam KERSEY
Brisbane Roar FC: 21. YOUNG Jamie (GK), 4. BOWLES Daniel, 8. PEPPER Jacob, 9. MACCARONE Massimo, 14. BEN KHALFALLAH Fahid, 16. OXBORROW Mitchell (64′ KRISTENSEN Thomas), 17. MCKAY Matt, 19. HINGERT Jack, 24. O’TOOLE Connor, 33. SKAPETIS Petros (67′ LECK Daniel), 77. FRANJIC Ivan (60′ AKBARI Rahmat)
SUBSTITUTES: 31. WHITE Brendan (GK), 5. BROWN Corey, 7. KRISTENSEN Thomas, 25. AKBARI Rahmat, 36. LECK Daniel
Melbourne Victory: 20. THOMAS Lawrence (GK), 2. GERIA Jason, 4. WILLIAMS Rhys, 6. BROXHAM Leigh (46′ NIGRO Stefan), 8. BERISHA Besart, 9. BARBAROUSES Kosta, 10. TROISI James, 14. DENG Thomas, 18. SANCHEZ Matias (89′ HOPE Joshua), 21. VALERI Carl, 41. GEORGE Leroy (71′ INGHAM Jai)
SUBSTITUTES: 1. ACTON Matthew (GK), 16. HOPE Joshua, 22. NIGRO Stefan, 23. INGHAM Jai, 31. THEOHAROUS Christian
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