The Western Sydney Wanderers perfect start to the season came to a halt after an underwhelming 0-0 draw with Brisbane Roar at Bankwest Stadium.
Despite a handful of golden chances at both ends, it was a rather cagey opening stanza and ultimately a tale of two goalkeepers.
Despite the Wanderers controlling possession for extended periods, it was Brisbane who came closest to opening the scoring early.
Derby hero Daniel Lopar continued right where he left off in between the sticks, making a pair of smart saves to deny Roy O’Donovan and Braden Inman respectively.
The hosts suffered an early blow as midfield lynchpin Pirmin Schwegler’s night came to a premature end inside 20 minutes due to injury.
Their best opportunity of the half arrived after half an hour. A Daniel Wilmering cross was palmed into the path of Daniel Georgevski and the fullback’s right-footed half-volley was tipped over the bar by Maxime Crocombe.
Lopar was up to the task yet again to deny a low James O’Shea strike before a vital last-ditch challenge from Tass Mourdoukoutas prevented Brisbane an opportunity at capitalising upon the rebound.
Crocombe denied an Alex Meier one-on-one late to ensure the first half would conclude scoreless.
Brisbane almost forged the opener less than five minutes after the break but Macaulay Gillesphey’s header was miraculously cleared off the line and the Wanderers scrambled the ball clear.
German international Nicolai Muller injected some life into the contest after entering the game on the hour mark. A pinpoint corner found the head of his compatriot Meier but Crocombe gathered it comfortably.
His next delivery saw the Wanderers edge even nearer to the elusive opener. The ball was initially cleared as far as Keanu Baccus, who unleashed a textbook volley which sailed past the wrong side of the post.
With ten minutes to play Scott Neville cut inside and released a curling effort that forced another spectacular stop out of Lopar.
Meier could have made himself the hero deep into stoppage time with a volley inside the six-yard box, however, the German marksman’s effort was tame and unable to trouble Crocombe.
A match that long appeared destined to conclude scoreless ended in that exact fashion.
The point was enough for Western Sydney to reclaim second place, while Robbie Fowler remains in search of his maiden victory in charge of Brisbane.
Western Sydney Wanderers: 0
Brisbane Roar: 0
Bankwest Stadium
Attendance: 14,216
Referee: Daniel Elder
Assistant Referees: Andrej Giev, Greg Taylor
Fourth official: Tim Danaskos
Western Sydney Wanderers: Daniel LOPAR (GK), Daniel WILMERING, Matthew JURMAN (Patrick ZIEGLER 81’), Dylan MCGOWAN, Daniel GEORGIEVSKI, Keanu BACCUS, Pirmin SCHWEGLER (Tass MOURDOUKOUTAS 18’), Kostandinos GROZOS (Nicolai MULLER 60’), Kwame YEBOAH, Alexander MEIER, Mitchell DUKE (C)
Unused subs: Nicholas SUMAN (GK), Mohammed ADAM, Tate RUSSELL, Jake TREW
Brisbane Roar: Maxime CROCOMBE (GK), Scott NEVILLE, Daniel BOWLES, Thomas ALDRED, Macaulay GILLESPHEY, Jake MCGING, Aiden O’NEILL, Stefan MAUK, James O’SHEA, Bradden INMAN (Dylan WENZEL HALLS 83’), Roy O’DONOVAN (Aaron HOLLOWAY 76’)
Unused subs: Jamie YOUNG (GK), Jai INGHAM, Jacob PEPPER
Feature image credit: Jaime Castaneda
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