The Brisbane Roar have plenty of reasons to smile after powering through their triple-header week with two wins and a draw, but what pleased coach Ange Postecoglou most was watching his side prove their courage against Melbourne Victory.
The Roar have shown a lot of razzle-dazzle in their impressive start to the Hyundai A-League 2010/11 season, but it was desperation and hard work which won the day against a fast-finishing Victory, who had beaten them 3-0 earlier in the season.
After leading 1-0 at half-time and looking in control, Brisbane lost the lead immediately after the resumption of play and could have easily fallen into deficit with the visitors applying the heat, but they scrambled hard and kept it level until Luke DeVere and Jean Carlos Solorzano combined for a 77th-minute winner.
“They’re good signs, because when you get to the big games at the business end of the season, you’re going to have to defend for your life at some stage, so it’s good to know that we can do that if we need to,” said Postecoglou
“I’ve got no doubt that Melbourne Victory will be there at the end, and you don’t want to go into a final series not having beaten them, or any side really.”
“They did beat us down there, although we played well, and it’s really important today, against another team that I think will be a contender, that we made a statement in getting the three points.”
Postecoglou had been cagey enough to insist his team were at 100 percent when speaking with media a day before the match, but after the game he admitted his side had been out on their feet after drawing 1-1 with Newcastle a week prior and then beating Central Coast 2-0 on Wednesday night.
“It was going to take a massive effort and it wasn’t pretty. We’ve played better this year for sure, but there were good signs for the fact that this team is resilient,” he said.
“We were running on empty and it was a fantastic effort.”
“It’s taxing, and particularly when you play the way we do, we’ve got the ball all the time – not so much today, but in the other two games (this week) – and it takes a lot of energy.”
Solorzano’s winning goal was his first in the Hyundai A-League and Postecoglou believes there will be plenty more to come as he regains full fitness.
“He’s still not 100 percent so we’re kind of nursing him along. We know he can finish, we watch it every day at training,” he said.
“He’s a fantastic finisher, a predator around the box.”
