The Brisbane Roar had 19 shots to the Jets’ three and 13 corners to one on Saturday night at Suncorp Stadium, but even after controlling almost the entire match, coach Ange Postecoglou says he can’t be too upset with the frustrating 1-1 draw.
From whistle to whistle the match was played almost entirely in the Newcastle’s defensive third, yet Brisbane trailed from the time Matt Smith conceded an own goal in the 18th minute until Reinaldo headed home an equaliser in the 79th minute.
Slick in every department besides finishing, the Jets’ stand-in captain Ljubo Milicevic saw enough in Brisbane’s performance to rate them the best side he’d played so far this season, and Postecoglou said in light of positive signs he couldn’t be entirely disappointed by the missed opportunity.
“I keep preaching to these guys that it’s more about the performance and the football that we played,” said Postecoglou.
“I can’t have any complaints tonight, we created enough opportunities; there goal keeper was outstanding and I don’t know how many corners we had.
“Ninety nine percent of it is was good. We didn’t get the results, and yes we’re in the business of results, but we’re also in the business of trying to improve as a team and the performance tonight was really good.”
With their 1-1 draw, Brisbane remain undefeated at home this season – a genuine point of pride for the club – but they will be forced to defend that record twice more within the week.
On Wednesday the Roar play the Central Coast Mariners, who sit just one competition point them on the A-League ladder, and then on Saturday they play host to Melbourne Victory, the only side to have beaten them this year.
With the exception of Mitch Nichols, who appeared to break his nose before being replaced by in the 58th minute, Postecoglou says his squad have made it through the night in reasonable condition and were looking forward to bouncing back after a short turnaround.
“Obviously there’ll be some knocks and some tiredness there, but we’ve got a pretty good regime and they’ll start on their recovery as of now and we’ll make sure we’re right for Wednesday night,” he said.
“We’ll have a look at whether we toss around the team a little bit, but I’m super confident that all the boys will put their hand up and be ready to play.”
Offering the players’ perspective at the post-match press conference, defensive star Shane Stefanutto was in full agreement with his coach, happy to accept the positives and anxious for another chance to close the gap on ladder-leaders Adelaide.
“I think their keeper (Ben Kennedy) was probably best on ground, so we had enough chances and it’s good that we keep making those chances, I think it’d be more of a problem if we didn’t,” Stefanutto said.
“I think it was a positive performance and a point at home I guess we take that, but it’s good that we’ve got another game quite quickly and let’s hope we get three points there.”
