A dominant performance from Brisbane Roar has seen them edge out Melbourne Victory 2-1 in today’s National Youth League fixture at Cleveland Showgrounds.
A dominant performance from Brisbane Roar has seen them edge out Melbourne Victory 2-1 in today-s National Youth League fixture at Cleveland Showgrounds.
The teams came into the round 16 encounter on the back of two very different results – Brisbane made competition history with an 11-2 win over Australian Institute of Sport while Victory-s last outing saw them hold league leaders Central Coast Mariners to a goalless draw.
Just two fixtures remain for each team following today-s match and with the Roar chasing a top two finish and Melbourne eager to lift themselves off the wooden spoon position, the eagerness of both teams was clear to see from the opening whistle.
It was Brisbane deservedly that opened the scoring in the 17th minute when James Donachie smashed a powerful shot off the upright and George Lambadaridis was perfectly placed to take advantage of the loose ball from inside the edge of the penalty box.
Tommy Cirjak was next to hit the woodwork before his captain Chris Bush tried his luck from long-range as the Roar dominated both the possession statistics and the shots on the goal tally while Melbourne were increasingly reliant on the occasional counterattack through livewire Hernan Espindola.
Late in the half, their pace in front of goal paid off in similar circumstances to the game-s opening goal as the young striker quickly struck home the rebound from attacking partner John Buceto-s shot on the stroke of half-time to leave the home side ruing their missed chances.
Anthony Proia-s attempt to restore the Roar-s lead five minutes after the restart was cleared off the line but when a Luke Brattan free-kick struck the arm of a Victory defender, referee Adam Kersey pointed to the spot and Cirjak stepped up to strike the penalty and hand his side the advantage.
Substitute Kofi Danning had a guilt-edged chance to add to the score line as the game wore on, instead unselfishly trying to tee up Cirjak in the middle following a bursting right down the right wing when a shot himself would have been the more dangerous option.
Brisbane-s dominance was much more than the score suggested and despite their best efforts to increase their lead with Bush especially unlucky in front of goal, the game ended 2-1.
Brisbane Roar 2 (Lambadaridis 17-, Cirjak (pen) 66-)
Melbourne Victory 1 (Espindola 45-)
