A devastated Melbourne Victory midfielder Oliver Bozanic pointed to an inability to capitalise on chances as the reason behind his side’s heartbreaking 2-1 Elimination Final loss to Brisbane Roar.
Victory dominated for almost the entire match at Suncorp Stadium on Friday night until a resolute Roar clawed their way back into the contest with Jason Geria’s 86th minute second off.
MATCH REPORT: Roar march on after stunning late comeback
HIGHLIGHTS: Late flurry of goals in Elimination thriller
ANALYSIS: Broich delivered when it mattered most for Roar
Besart Berisha fired the visitors ahead soon after that setback, but the reigning champions were unable to prevent Brisbane from snatching a Semi-Final berth in the dying minutes.
“We created a lot of chances and it was just disappointing that we had a sending off,” Bozanic told Fox Sports after the match.
“I thought we played well in a lot of the game and it was just very disappointing to lose in the end like that.
“That’s the way it fell in the dying minutes and it’s very hard for us to take.”
Victory’s supremacy extended to a 10-0 shot count in their favour by half-time but Bozanic and Fahid Ben Khalfallah were both guilty of spurning chances after the restart which ultimately cost the Big V.
Bozanic conceded a failure to break clear of an under-performing Brisbane as ultimately proving costly in what will do down as one of the toughest losses to take for the Victorian club.
“We just wanted to play our way, try to do that for 90 minutes and score as many goals as we can,” the 27-year-old said.
“Tonight we were only able to get one.”
Victory now turn their attentions to the Asian Champions League and a clash away to Shanghai SIPG on Tuesday night.
