A first-half blitz has helped a 10-man Melbourne Victory to a thrilling 3-2 win over Brisbane Roar at AAMI Park on Friday night.
Victory raced out of the blocks and surged to a 3-0 lead inside the opening 27 minutes thanks to goals from James Troisi, Marco Rojas and Besart Berisha.
Brisbane fought their way back into the contest and pulled a goal back with Dimitri Petratos netting an incredible long-range free-kick on the half-hour mark.
John Aloisi’s side continued to press and were rewarded on the stroke of half-time with Victory defender James Donachie bundling a Roar cross into his own net.
The free-flowing encounter took a turn just before the hour mark with Victory striker Besart Berisha shown a straight red-card for an off the ball incident with Roar defender Luke DeVere.
Roar enjoyed more possession as the second half progressed but failed to take advantage of their numerical advantage with Brisbane unable to fashion many clear-cut opportunities.
James Troisi went close to sealing the win for Victory with 10 minutes to go after striking the post but it mattered little as the hosts held on for a famous win.
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GOALS
1-0 Melbourne Victory: James Troisi, 12’
Victory were awarded a free kick on the edge of the area with Troisi stepping up to curl a sublime strike into the top corner, leaving Roar keeper Michael Theo with no chance.
2-0 Melbourne Victory, Marco Rojas, 17’
Troisi played a piercing ball in behind the Roar defence which caught Theo in no man’s land allowing Rojas to slide the ball home into an empty net.
3-0 Melbourne Victory, Besart Berisha (Pen), 27’
Roar centre-back Luke DeVere was adjudged to have felled Berisha inside the box and the Albanian made no mistake from the ensuing spot kick, calmly slotting his strike past Theo.
3-1 Brisbane Roar, Dimitri Petratos, 30’
After Brisbane were handed a set piece 30 metres from goal, Petratos stepped up and thumped a vicious strike which swerved into the top right corner, leaving Lawrence Thomas stranded.
3-2 Brisbane Roar, James Donachie (OG), 41’
Petratos found Brandon Borrello inside the area with a delicate ball before the youngster’s cut-back was inadvertently turned into his own net by Victory defender Donachie.
KEY MOMENT
With his side leading 3-1 in the first half and under a barrage of Roar attacks, Victory keeper Lawrence Thomas produced a sublime save to preserve his side’s advantage. Roar skipper Matt McKay looked certain to score after being played through one-on-one but Thomas sprinted off his line and managed to deflect the ball just wide of the target.
RED CARD
Besart Berisha was shown a straight red card in the 58th minute for after appearing to make contact with Roar defender Luke DeVere off the ball.
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