Sydney FC stumbled to their second consecutive defeat as Brisbane Roar triumphed 2-1 at Allianz Stadium on Saturday night.
Sydney failed to overcome Brisbane in their latest encounter at Allianz Stadium with Roar’s quick fire double proving enough to upset the league champions.
Despite a late flurry of opportunities, Brisbane held on to record their third straight away win as they aim to secure finals football this campaign.
Roar opened the scoring just before the 10-minute mark with captain Matt McKay beating Andrew Redmayne at his near post with a finely struck header to edge his side into the lead.
The Sky Blues came close to offering an instant reply to Brisbane’s opener when Adrian Mierzejewski’s header sailed past the visitor’s goal.
John Aloisi’s side capitalised on the hosts’ slow start as they doubled the lead with Jacob Pepper, the Roar defender poked the ball in from close range after receiving Ivan Franjic’s cut back.
Looking to overturn a two-goal deficit, the hosts thought they had pulled one back when Alex Wilkinson bundled his header over the line however VAR ruled the Sydney defender offside and the Roar’s winning margin remained intact as they entered the interval.
Uncharacteristically poor at the back, Sydney were fortunate not to go 3-0 down when Franjic came close to replicating his assist in the first half when his header flashed across the Sky Blues’ six-yard box.
Despite their defensive frailties, the A-League champions were a threat with their set pieces and Milos Ninkovic was responsible for reducing the deficit just before the hour mark as he headed in Jordy Buijs’ curling free kick.
The visitors proved stubborn in defence with Sydney’s best opportunities arriving from set pieces opposed to their usual slick attacking play.
The introduction of Fabio Ferreira provided Graham Arnold’s men with a spark in the attacking third however they were ultimately suppressed by Brisbane’s makeshift defence.
Sydney FC 1 (Ninkovic 59′)
Brisbane Roar 2 (McKay 9′, Pepper 18′)
Allianz Stadium
Referee: Kurt Ams
Assistant Referees: Lance Greenshields and Greg Taylor
Fourth Official: Adrian Arndt
Sydney FC
1. REDMAYNE Andrew (gk), 4. WILKINSON Alex, 5. BUIJS Jordy, 6. BRILLANTE Josh, 8. RETRE Paulo, 9. BOBO, 10. NINKOVIC Milos, 11. MIERZEJEWSKI Adrian, 13. O’NEILL Brandon, 14. BROSQUE Alex (c), 17. CARNEY David.
Substitutes: 20. CISAK Alex (gk), 2. CALVER Aaron, 3. WARLAND Ben, 12. FERREIRA Fabio, 18. SIMON Matt.
Brisbane Roar
21. YOUNG Jamie (gk), 4. BOWLES Daniel, 7. KRISTENSEN Thomas, 8. PEPPER Jacob, 9. MACCARONE Massimo, 10. HOLMAN Brett, 14. BEN KHALFALLAH Fahid, 17. MCKAY Matthew (c), 19. HINGERT Jack, 22. BAUTHEAC Eric, 77. FRANJIC Ivan.
Substitutes: 31. WHITE Brendan (gk), 11. GAMEIRO Corey, 18. CALETTI Joe, 24. O’TOOLE Connor, 33. HENRIQUE.
Feature Image Credit: BRFC Photographer Paul Smith
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