A wet night at Moreton Daily Stadium did not dampen Jack Hingert’s 200th game for the Brisbane Roar as they ran out 3-1 winners against Macarthur FC.
The Roar came out firing as in-form forward Nikola Mileusnic opened the scoring within 62 seconds.
A well weighted through ball placed Mileusnic eye-to-eye with Macarthur keeper Filip Kurto whom he rounded with ease before calmly rolling the ball into an open net.
This goal pushed Mileusnic’s tally to five goals for the season placing him equal third in the golden boot race with Adelaide’s Craig Goodwin.
Macarthur looked off the pace during the first half, owing in no small part to their three-day turn around between Thursday’s Central Coast game and Sunday in Brisbane.
Brisbane looked to dominate in the opening 45 minutes with 60 per cent possession and numerous shots on goal.
Matti Steinmann blazed one over the crossbar in the 20th minute, before Mileusnic forced a smart save from Kurto after some nice build up from Jay O’Shea and Henry Hore.
Juan Lescano was the closest to doubling Brisbane’s lead in the first half, after tricking his way past the defence and into the 18-yard box, only to fire wide past the far post.
Coming out of half-time Brisbane were again on the front foot, as within two minutes they had the ball in the back of the net only for it to be ruled offside.
Hore had run onto a soft touch and layoff from Lescano, and slotted the ball past the keeper but Lescano was judged to have been offside in the buildup.
The home crowd’s disappointment was short lived, however, when Corey Brown latched onto a ball just outside the 18-yard box and rifled his shot through a crowd and into the bottom right corner to double Brisbane’s lead at the hour mark.
It was at this stage that the milestone man Hingert was subbed off to a standing ovation from the home fans grateful for his 200 matches of dedication and service to the club.
Brown was denied his double less than five minutes later. After a nice layoff from Lescano, he could only drive his shot straight at Kurto who comfortably made the save.
Adrian Mariappa clawed one back for the visitors after an inviting cross from Aleksandar Susnjar put it on a plate for him to volley home from five yards, setting up a tense final 20 minutes.
Brisbane put the game to bed, however, with just over ten minutes to go.
Daniel De Silva was caught on the ball in the Macarthur penalty box and the loose bobbing ball was pounced on by Hore who scrambled a chip over the line to give Brisbane a two goal buffer.
Macklin Freke ensured the win with a smart double save, after fumbling the initial effort on goal, to keep Brisbane’s two goal lead intact late on.
It proved a successful night for the Roar, as they celebrated both a victory and Hingert’s tremendous service to the club.
The win puts Brisbane four points away from the top four, with a game in hand, while Macarthur’s struggle continues after picking up just two points from their last five games.
Brisbane Roar: 3 (Mileusnic 2’) (Brown 60’) (Hore 79’)
Macarthur United 1 (Mariappa 74’)
Stadium: Moreton Daily Stadium
Referee: Kurt Ams
Assistant Referees: Nathan Mcdonald, David Walsh
Fourth Official: Adam Kersey
VAR: Shaun Evans
Brisbane Roar: Macklin FREKE (GK), Scott NEVILLE, Corey BROWN, Rahmat AKBARI, Ville Matti STEINMANN (Jesse DALEY 75’), Nikola MILEUSNIC, Henry HORE (Nicholas OLSEN 83’), James O’SHEA (C), Kai TREWIN, Jack HINGERT (Louis ZABALA 61’), Juan LESCANO (Cyrus DEHMIE 75’)
Unused subs: Anton MILNARIC, Jez LOFTHOUSE, Jordan HOLMES (GK)
Macarthur FC: Filip KURTO (GK), Jake MCGING, Aleksandar JOVANOVIC (James MEREDITH 75’), Jordan MUTCH (Thomas OAR 45’), Ulises Alejandro DAVILLA PLASCENIA (C), Aleksandar SUSNJAR, Craig NOONE (Al Hassan TOURE 63’) Michael RUHS (Apostolos Giannou 45’), Adrian MARIAPPA, Kokola M’MOMBWA (Daniel DESILVA 45’), Lachlan ROSE
Unused subs: Liam ROSE, Nicholas SUMAN (GK)
Feature image credit: Brisbane Roar FC
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