Brett Holman sensationally returned from injury to snatch a last-gasp 2-1 win for Brisbane Roar over a 10-man Western Sydney Wanderers at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday night.
The former Caltex Socceroos star came off the bench and delighted Roar fans as his powerful stoppage-time strike burst through the hands of Wanderers goalkeeper Vedran Janjetovic.
Wanderers had looked to set to claim their second straight draw in Brisbane after Jamie Maclaren failed to capitalise on a pair of clear second-half chances.
Brandon Borrello earlier opened the scoring for Brisbane, turning in his second goal of the season after Jack Clisby’s attempted clearance ricocheted kindly into the winger’s path.
Jumpei Kusukami quickly responded for Western Sydney, clinically dispatching Mitch Nichols’ smart pass to make it 1-1 after half an hour.
Scott Neville was shown a second yellow with 10 minutes remaining but Tony Popovic’s side resisted the onslaught until Holman’s intervention, which gives Brisbane a timely boost ahead their AFC Champions League qualifier against Philippines side Global FC on Tuesday night.
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GOALS
1-0 Roar: Brandon Borrello, 22’
Jack Clisby’s poor clearance from a ball across the face ricocheted off Jamie Maclaren and fell kindly for Borrello to fire home at point-blank range.
1-1 Wanderers: Jumpei Kusukami, 32’
Mitch Nichols found space on the right and cleverly cut the ball back for Jumpei, who speared his finish low and hard into the bottom far corner.
2-1 Roar: Brett Holman, 90’+3
Holman showed no signs of injury trouble in bursting on to an Arana backheel and unleashing a thunderous effort which broke through the hands off Vedran Janjetovic.
RED CARD
Already on a yellow for tugging Thomas Broich’s shirt early in the match, Wanderers fullback Scott Neville was dismissed for gaining nothing of the ball in going through the back of Jack Hingert.
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