Melbourne City are up into second on the Isuzu UTE A-League ladder after coming from behind to defeat Brisbane Roar 3-2 in a thrilling encounter at AAMI Park.
The away side stunned the hosts in just the ninth minute; in-form forward Asumah Abubakar’s strike from inside the box initially flagged offside however a quick VAR check showed the former Portuguese youth international had timed his run to perfection before beating goalkeeper Patrick Beach.
Playing with more urgency after the break, City found the leveller through the excellent Marco Tilio as he jinked his way into the box before drilling the ball beyond goalkeeper Matt Acton in the 57th minute.
Four minutes later and the home side took the lead; striker Max Caputo capitalising on a loose ball inside the box as he lifted his shot above the keeper to make it 2-1.
However, despite having just one shot on goal prior to the 69th minute Brisbane pulled themselves level as Keegan Jelacic’s shot from outside the area took a wicked deflection before flying past Beach and into the net.
The home side were well and truly dominating at AAMI Parkt though and they found the winner in the 85th minute; German Ferreyra heading home from a corner to make it 3-2 in the closing stages.
The win moves City above Victorian rivals Western United and into second spot on the ladder and they now sit just three points behind league leaders Auckland FC, albeit having played a game more.
As for Brisbane Roar, Ruben Zadkovich’s side remain 12th on the ladder after suffering their 15th loss of the campaign and they will drop to last on the ladder if Perth avoid defeat against Adelaide on Saturday night.
There was one positive on the night for Brisbane though as fan-favourite Jack Hingert made a record-breaking 304th appearance for the club
Not many fans would have given Brisbane Roar much of a chance against high-flying Melbourne City however the visitors stunned AAMI Park in just the ninth minute.
Racing on to a through ball from Keegan Jelacic, pacy forward Abubakar broke into the box and dispatched the ball beyond Beach to make it 1-0 before the offside flag was then raised.
However, a quick VAR check showed City captain Aziz Behich was playing the forward onside and the decision was quickly overturned to give Brisbane the lead.
Despite having plenty of possession the home side struggled to fashion clear-cut chances; powerful striker Caputo heading wide of the target in the 35th minute after he was picked out inside the box.
Bringing on midfielder Steven Ugarkovic at the break in place of Callum Talbot, City looked to up the ante immediately and almost found the leveller; Caputo steering Medin Memeti’s cutback over the bar.
The home side were now much livelier than the first half though and bagged the equaliser in the 57th minute through Tilio.
Picked out by a brilliant cross-field pass from defender Fererya, Tilio beat Jack Hingert to the ball and after taking a sublime first touch he then wriggled clear of his marker before dispatching the ball beyond Matt Acton in the Brisbane goal to make it 1-1.
And once they had one goal, City soon turned the game on it’s head.
Driving towards the box, Tilio played a quick one-two with Caputo before lashing a shot towards goal which was initially blocked by the defence, however the ball fell kindly into the path of Caputo and the big striker fired into the roof of the net to give City the lead.
Completely against the run of play though, Brisbane Roar scored with just their second shot of the game.
Receiving a pass on the edge of the area, Jelacic steadied himself before taking aim and his shot then took a wicked deflection off the back of Ferreyra before curling beyond Beach and into the far corner.
City then looked to respond immediately as teenager Memeti rattled the bar with a header but the home side were cranking up the pressure and before long, the away side’s defence crumbled once again.
Darting towards the near post, Ferrerya was unmarked as he powered home Yonatan Cohen’s out-swinging corner to register his first goal in the Isuzu UTE A-League and hand City a 3-2 lead.
