Melbourne City and Brisbane Roar were forced to share the spoils in a fiery 1-1 draw at AAMI Park on Saturday night.
Nicolas Colzao’s first City goal shortly after the restart cancelled out Jamie Maclaren’s well-taken opener in an action-packed encounter between two top-four rivals.
Just 72 hours after their Westfield FFA Cup Final triumph, City found themselves behind in the 39th minute when Maclaren punished Manny Muscat’s errant clearance.
Emotions raised a further notch in the 55th minute as Colazo capped off a tidy team move for the equaliser while Roar players appealed for play to be paused.
Maclaren had the best of the chances to snatch three points for Brisbane but was unable to prevent his side’s fourth straight draw, while Melbourne City remain three points shy of leaders Sydney FC.
Catch up with all the action at our match centre here
GOALS
0-1 Roar: Jamie Maclaren, 38’
Manny Muscat diverted Thomas Broich’s cross directly into the path of Jamie Maclaren, who took a touch before burying his left-footed finish inside the bottom corner.
1-1 City: Nicolas Colzao, 55’
While Brisbane asked for play to be paused, Anthony Caceres’ classy flick-on from Luke Brattan’s pass enabled Colzao to force the equaliser past Michael Theo.
OPTA DATA
-Brisbane Roar have now drawn their last four games, the first time they have done so in Hyundai A-League history.
Re-live the action on Twitter
