The Brisbane Roar have taken their undefeated streak to 18 games with a 2-2 draw in their derby clash with Gold Coast United, played in torrential rain at Suncorp Stadium.
The home side peppered the United goal through 90 minutes of uninterrupted rain, but Glen Moss was heroic, limiting the damage to two and ensuring the Roar were unable to take a first-ever win against their local rivals.
But for all Brisbane’s perceived dominance, they never led, and if John Curtis hadn’t conceded a controversial penalty in the 66th minute, United’s two goals against the run of play would likely have been enough to make them the first visiting side to win at Suncorp in 2010-11.
Brisbane coach Ange Postecoglou was content to take a single point for the result, and told media post-match that he was thoroughly satisfied with the performance.
“We were on song tonight. I know we didn’t get the points, but we played some really good football and created the opportunities,” said Postecoglou.
“In football, sometimes the results don’t reflect what happened on the park.”
United coach Miron Bleiberg was pleased to keep an undefeated run against his former club alive, and said the outcome was a fair one, despite the disappointment of twice conceding the lead.
“I think no team deserved to lose today. It would have been cruel for the Roar to have lost and it would have been cruel for us to have lost,” he said.
“We have a bit of a bitter taste, because the might Roar to equalise with us needed a soft penalty. On the other hand, they were a good side and at times we had our backs against the wall.”
Brisbane went agonisingly close to scoring in the opening five minutes, when Kosta Barbarouses threaded a deft pass through the defence and on to the feet of Jean Carlos Solorzano, who had his shot smothered on the edge of the six-yard box.
The combination was reversed just minutes later, and Barbarouses looked certain to score when he was played in for a one-on-one, but Moss did well to keep his line unbreached with a reflex save.
In the 14th minute, however, it was United showing the home side how to make the most of silver-platter opportunities, with Dino Djulbic timing his run to perfection and heading home the opener from a pinpoint accurate Adama Traore cross.
German-born midfield star Thomas Broich had some uncharacteristic loose touches in the opening exchanges, but he was the next man to threaten goal for the Roar, firing in a thunder-bolt left-footer from the top of the 18-year-box, which Moss was forced to parry away.
The Brisbane front-men kept up their assault on the United goal, and after Moss made another brilliant one-on-one save, Barbarouses had the breakthrough, taking a sensational through-ball from Mitch Nichols and chipping into the net with the outside of his boot.
Gold Coast captain Jason Culina had a chance to reclaim the lead in the dying stages of the first half, but his free kick from 20 yards out curled safely past the post.
United threatened once more before the half-time whistle, but there was no support for Bruce Djite, after he broke down the left-hand sideline and sent a probing pass across the goal face.
Brisbane resumed on the offensive after the half-time intermission, and from the kick-off Solorzano was able to put Barbarouses in on goal with another smart one-touch pass.
Roar skipper Matt McKay was the next man to demand a sharp save from Moss, after taking the ball from Broich in the area and firing on goal with the outside of his favoured left boot.
But just as a Brisbane lead seemed inevitable, Gold Coast scored their second against the run of play, with Robson bursting past Matt Smith and beating Theoklitos from a tight angle.
Moss made another great save from a long-range Erik Paartalu strike, but his heroics came to an end when John Curtis was controversially judged to have brought down Barbarouses inside the area and Solorzano made no mistake with the penalty.
Broich and Barbarouses continued to feature heavily, and both had gift-wrapped chances to put the hosts in front, but Broich failed for accuracy with a chip over Moss and Barbarouses was miles off target after taking a squared ball at the top of 18-yard box.
With less than 10 minutes remaining, the two sides were given some brief respite, as ground staff were called on to repaint the Gold Coast penalty area, which had been washed away in the unrelenting rain.
Broich and substitute Massimo Murdocca both had chances to steal a late win for the hosts, but the opportunities continued to fly wide and after five minutes of injury time the final whistle blew.
Brisbane Roar 2 (Barbarouses 30, Solorzano 66)
Gold Coast United 2 (Djulbic 14, Robson 55)
