Brisbane Roar coach Frans Thijssen praised his players’ ability to overcome tired legs to score a hard-earned 1-0 win over the Western Sydney Wanderers at Suncorp Stadium.
A brilliant Brandon Borrello strike in the 53rd minute was enough to win the game for Brisbane, who have four wins and a draw from their last five matches.
The three points enabled the Roar to leapfrog Melbourne City into the Hyundai A-League top six, and Thijssen was impressed with the way his players reacted to his half-time speech.
Report: Brisbane Roar 1 Western Sydney Wanderers 0
“I said at half-time we have to win because we need the points,” he said.
“If we all look up at the table, if you play at home against this team you have to win.
“Forget about being tired.
“In the end they kept going till the last second, and they battled.”
Brisbane travelled to Perth in the previous round, before flying to Japan to take on Urawa Red Diamonds in the Asian Champions League mid-week, so the coach was delighted with the way the players lifted in the second half against the Wanderers.
“We had a hard game in Japan, we had a hard game in Perth,” Thijssen said.
“So with all the travelling you’d be happy with 1-0.
“It’s not our best game but you can’t expect our best game when you travel like we have to do from Australia.”
Thijssen also had kind words for goalscorer Borrello, who weaved through the Wanderers defence in the 53rd minute before firing into the corner.
“He’s a player you want to take off earlier because he runs and runs and he works so hard.
“You know he needs to rest but he’s always dangerous with his runs.
“And he makes the goal again and you’re happy for him.
“When you score two games in the row, he gets more confidence, and he’ll be one of the players who scores goals for us in the next 10 games.”
