Brisbane has extended its winless streak to five matches after being forced to settle for a 1-1 draw with Newcastle in a pulsating Hyundai A-League fixture at Suncorp Stadium on Friday night.
Both goals came in the first half, with the Jets opening the scoring through the head of Labinot Haliti before Roar striker Sergio van Dijk squared the ledger four minutes later with a sharply converted penalty.
New coach Ange Postecoglou must have given a stirring address at the major break in his first game at the helm in Brisbane, as the hosts took control of the contest, creating a plethora of chances and controlling possession.
Newcastle ‘keeper Ben Kennedy was tested regularly by Tommy Oar, Danny Tiatto and van Dijk, with the latter going perilously close in the 62nd minute after a failed clearance from Kennedy.
The visitors also had their fair share of chances to break the deadlock, with Jin-Hyung Song’s long-range shot in the 68th minute going within inches of the woodwork and easily being the most spectacular.
The game dissolved into a free-flowing, end-to-end affair, but the spoils were eventually shared.
However the Jets almost pinched the points in the final play when Roar keeper Griffin McMaster fumbled Fabio Vignaroli’s blistering shot on goal, although Brisbane captain Craig Moore was on hand to make the clearance.
Both teams struggled for fluency earlier on, with a couple of comfortable saves from McMaster the closest either side went until the game sprung to life in the 32nd minute.
The Roar had been showing plenty of grit in defence, but their tendency to allow the Jets too much space was finally exposed by Michael Bridges and Haliti.
Bridges found space out wide and collected a slick pass from captain Matt Thompson before sending a looping cross into the middle of the box.
Haliti was then able to fly high above a meek Ivan Franjic and make sweet connection with his header.
Postecoglou lamented what he called a frustrating night.
“We’ve got some good combinations, but our final pass at times let us down. I thought if we were a little bit sharper around the edge of the box we could have created a lot more opportunities,” Postecoglou said.
“We conceded a bad goal again, which is something we’ve got to stop doing, we’re just not desperate enough in the box at times.”
Newcastle coach Branko Culina shared his counterpart’s frustrations, but believed the result was a fair outcome.
“That’s football… at the end of the day it was two teams that were desperate to firstly try and avoid a loss, and then win if they could.”
“We’re a bit disappointed that we couldn’t hold onto the lead for a little bit longer, at least until half time.”
The tempo lifted and the Roar’s response was swift, even if it was largely thanks to a handball from Jets defender Adam D’Apuzzo.
Isaka Cernak looped in a regulation cross from the corner and D’Apuzzo was a little too desperate in his efforts to clear the danger after Kennedy mistimed his run at the ball.
Referee Chris Beath was quick to handout a yellow card to D’Apuzzo and van Dijk made no mistake with the resulting penalty, powering it low and to the right of an outstretched Kennedy.
Danny Tiatto continued his penchant for long-range shots after halftime, but the former Qantas Socceroos’ hardman was eventually forced from the ground in the 72nd minute.
The veteran appeared to have his hamstring iced after coming off for Mario Karlovic in his comeback from injury.
The draw sees both Newcastle and Brisbane move to 13 points for the season, leaving the North Queensland Fury in outright bottom position on the table.
Brisbane Roar 1 (van Dijk 36)
Newcastle Jets 1 (Haliti 32)
Crowd: 7, 509 at Suncorp Stadium
