Brisbane Roar are into the semi-finals of the Australia Cup for a second successive season following a thrilling 4-2 win over Western Sydney Wanderers.
The Ross Aloisi era at Brisbane Roar is well and truly in full swing.
Brisbane booked their place in the Australia Cup semi-finals with a convincing 4-2 victory over Western Sydney Wanderers at a nearly sold out Perry Park.
Aloisi’s side battled back from an early deficit to take the lead before half-time, as Carlo Armiento and Thomas Waddingham found the net following Marcus Antonsson’s opener for the visiting Wanderers.
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Jack Clisby fired home a stunner to level the scores for Western Sydney, before Joe Caletti and Henry Hore fired two goals in eight minutes for Brisbane to secure their place in the final four for a second consecutive season.
It made it three wins from three games to begin Aloisi’s tenure as Roar boss, leading the side to their most convincing victory yet after seeing off Newcastle Jets in the Round of 32 by a 3-2 scoreline and then demolished NPL New South Wales outfit Sydney United 58 in the Round of 16 by five goals.
Roar showed tremendous grit to battle back following Antonsson’s opener, and looked devastating on the counter attack, led by the likes of Hore, Armiento and Nikola Mileusnic who were electric up front.
In fact, Brisbane outshot the Wanderers 17-9, with eight of those going on target compared to three.
One of the great stories out of the Roar camp, however, is young Waddingham who scored his second goal in three senior appearances.
His performances have helped stamp his claim to be the number one striking option come the opening game of the Isuzu UTE A-League season against Macarthur in just over a month’s time.
Brisbane have opted against bringing in a new number nine this window, despite the loss of Serbian striker Stefan Scepovic, with Aloisi instead looking internally.
The new Roar boss has backed in Waddingham in the early going following an impressive NPL Queensland season and string of solid performances in pre-season.
The 18-year-old Cairns born striker, who only just penned a scholarship deal in August has since repaid the coach’s faith in the Cup and looks set to play a key role in the remainder of their quest for silverware.
They now join Melbourne City and Melbourne Knights in the semi-finals – after the two Victorian sides came-from-behind to defeat MetroStars and Heidelberg United on Thursday night.
The victor of tomorrow’s clash between Sydney FC and Western United will also join the trio in the semis, with the draw to be completed at the conclusion of tomorrow afternoon’s contest.
MATCH DETAILS
Brisbane Roar 4-2 Western Sydney Wanderers
Venue: Perry Park
