A heartbreaking injury-time own goal from Perth’s Todd Howarth has given Brisbane a dramatic 2-1 win over the Glory at nib Stadium on Sunday evening.
An entertaining encounter looked headed to a draw after Reinaldo’s second-minute strike was cancelled out by Scott Neville’s header for the Glory four minutes later.
While Michael Baird missed two good opportunities for Perth during the first half, the Roar saw a netted shot from impressive substitute Mitch Nichols denied by the offside flag.
But in the fifth minute of added time, the Roar launched one last counter attack as Nichols drilled the ball in for young Brisbane recruit Rocky Visconte to take possession close to goal.
A desperate Howarth slid in to challenge Visconte as Glory goalkeeper Tando Velaphi came the other way. But as Visconte leapt into the air to avoid the Glory tackles, Howarth’s boot made contact with the ball and the midfielder could only look on in horror as it deflected into goal off the bottom of Visconte’s boot.
“We left it late but I’d say on the balance of the game we definitely deserved the three points,” said Roar coach Ange Postecoglou.
“I thought we had enough opportunities to kill the game off earlier, particularly in the second half and you know I don’t know how many shots we had on goal but certainly I think we dominated.”
The Roar now return to second on the Hyundai A-League table as Perth stay in seventh after their fourth consecutive loss.
“It’s just a bad ricochet,” said Glory coach Dave Mitchell of the late own goal.
“The ball bounced in, so it was unfortunate.”
In more bad news for the Glory, veteran Jamie Harnwell was forced off with what appeared to be a calf injury in the 28th minute, his place in the side taken by impressive debutant Ryan Pearson.
In an exciting opening, the crowd barely had time to settle before Brisbane took the lead just 80 seconds in from an under-hit goal kick from Glory goalkeeper Tando Velaphi.
The ball didn’t cross the halfway line allowing Broich to take possession, the German midfielder producing a mazy run into the box that ended with him squaring the ball for Reinaldo to slam it home from two metres.
The Roar defence may have only conceded four goals prior to this game, but goalkeeper Michael Theoklitos found himself picking the ball from the back of the net just four minutes later.
From a corner on the right, Robbie Fowler swung the ball over Brisbane’s defence to the far post where Mile Sterjovski headed back into the box for Neville to nod powerfully past Theoklitos.
A minute late the Glory should have taken the lead. A fantastic ball from Fowler allowed Baird to beat the offside trap. But the Glory striker’s attempt to score his first Perth goal was thwarted by a brilliant Theoklitos save, the goalkeeper palming away his attempted chip.
Baird missed out once again in the 17th minute. A long goal kick from Velaphi looked like it would be easily dealt with by Brisbane youngster Luke DeVere. But Baird snuck in to steal the ball back only to blast it high and wide from a one-on-one with the ‘keeper.
That was the cue for Brisbane to take control of proceedings, as Massimo Murdocca’s glancing header in the 23rd minute was well saved by Velaphi.
Three minutes later, the Glory stopper beat away a powerful attempt from Erik Paartalu after a miscued clearance from Perth’s defence allowed Broich to tee up his team-mate.
In a thrilling end to an already entertaining half, Murdocca was forced to clear Sterjovski’s attempt on the line before Reinaldo fired narrowly wide down the other end.
A Glory free kick in the 45th minute just outside the 18-yard box then caused havoc for Brisbane as Theoklitos punched Jacob Burns’ goalbound effort clear, only for the ball to fall for Pearson’s to cross it back in, just missing Baird’s desperate dive.
Having been beaten for possession towards the half-time break, the Glory started the second-half with more attacking intent, Fowler seeing a looping header just controlled by Theoklitos on the line in the 53rd minute.
But the introduction of Nichols for Murdocca just after the hour proved a key move for the Roar as the young forward threatened the Glory defence time and again.
In the 67th minute, Nichols was denied by the offside flag, while his next chance five minutes later hit the side-netting.
Fifteen minutes from time, Andy Todd’s foul on Nichols just outside the area gave Brisbane a great chance but Broich could only send his free kick wide before a rasping drive from Nichols in the 80th minute was denied by a brilliant Velaphi save.
Three minutes later, Roar defender Matt Smith bravely launched himself into the air to clear a dangerous cross just as Glory substitute striker Branko Jelic lay waiting to pounce.
And Smith’s effort proved worthwhile as the Roar secured their first away win of the season in an incredible finish.
Perth Glory 1 (Neville 6)
Brisbane Roar 2 (Reinaldo 2, Howarth 90og)
Crowd: 9758 at nib Stadium, Perth
