A brace from in-form striker Jean Carlos Solorzano has given Brisbane Roar a deserved victory in a five goal thriller against Perth Glory at Suncorp Stadium.
The 3-2 win sees Brisbane go six points clear at the top of the Hyundai A-League ladder, with Ange Postecoglou-s men equalling the league-s longest unbeaten streak of 13 games without a loss.
Perth were forced into an early change after just 11 minutes following a groin injury to Naum Sekulovski but Brisbane-s tempo went uninterrupted.
Two minutes later, skipper Matt McKay sending a low, driving strike goal wards but it was easily collected by Tando Velaphi between the posts for the Glory.
Brisbane really started to press forward after the half hour mark, first Ivan Franjic attacking the opposition goal after a quick one-two with Massimo Murdocca but it was Broich-s 25 metre screamer just a minute later that almost caught out the Perth defence.
With the Roar midfield holding on to almost 70 per cent of possession as the half-time whistle approached, it was striker Jean Carlos Solorzano that gave Brisbane a deserved one goal lead in just his third start for the home side.
Streaking onto a well-timed through ball from Barbarouses, Solorzano did well to stay on his feet after a challenge from Perth defender Jamie Coyne, standing tall to calmly slot the ball home for his fourth goal of the season.
Seven minutes after the break, Massimo Murdocca had a great chance to mark his milestone 100th Hyundai A-League appearance with a goal, following up with the rebound after a thunderous shot from McKay.
Following some good strength on the sidelines by Solorzano, Broich dazzled through the penalty box to present his skipper with an ideal scoring opportunity, but both McKay and Murdocca were denied by strong goalkeeping on Velaphi-s behalf.
Brisbane finally managed to bank on their vast possession in the 57th minute, Matt Smith rising highest in the area to connect with a Broich corner and slam the ball home with a powerful header.
With his side two goals down, Glory coach Ian Ferguson introduced Robbie Fowler and Adriano Pellegrino into the fray as Brisbane goal scorer Smith was replaced by Matt Mundy.
Fowler took almost no time at all to make an impact for Perth – the former England and Liverpool striker stepping up to stroke the ball past Michael Theoklitos from the penalty spot following an unfortunate hand ball by Luke DeVere two minutes after taking the field.
Despite Fowler-s contribution with his first touch of the ball, the momentum of the game quickly switched back to Brisbane and they soon had a penalty of their own following a nasty challenge on Solorzano by young Perth defender Scott Neville.
Neville, who had already been cautioned, was given his second yellow card for his efforts, leaving Solorzano to pick himself up and score his second goal of the evening with a low, confident strike from the spot.
However, against the run of play, Perth again reduced the deficit with seven minutes remaining, Adriano Pellegrino-s goal of the season contender from 30 metres giving the game a nervous edge in the game-s final stages.
Murdocca, substitute Reinaldo and Barbarouses all had golden opportunities to give Brisbane a two goal cushion in the closing minutes, but Brisbane held on secure their eleventh straight home game without a loss.
Brisbane Roar coach Ange Postecoglou highlighted the players- halftime turnaround in attitude after an uncharacteristically slow start to the game as key to securing the three points in the end.
“It was exciting, it was a funny old game in terms of the score line,” he said.
“I thought we played fantastically well in the second half and we conceded two goals.
“To their credit they fought it out but we certainly felt that, in the second half especially, we should-ve had a couple more at least.
“Having said that, the first half was very disappointing, I wasn-t very happy with the way we played but I had to have a good chat to the boys and make sure they were focused.
“In the second half, I thought we really moved the ball well and made it really difficult for the opposition.”
Postecoglou also praised the individual effort of Costa Rican striker Jean Carlos Solorzano, whose fourth and fifth goals in the campaign sealed the win for Brisbane.
“He was good, we used him a little bit better in the second half,” he said.
“As a striker, you love scoring goals and we always knew he-d be a threat to the oppositions once we got on the pitch.
“We-ve obviously taken it easy with him, especially through this heavy period, to make sure physically he could cope, but I thought he was a threat today to the opposition and he-s a very good finisher.”
Brisbane Roar (Jean Carlos SOLORZANO 41-, 76- (pen), Matt SMITH 57-)
Perth Glory (Robbie FOWLER (pen) 66-, Adriano PELLEGRINO 83-)
Wednesday, 24 November 2010
Local kick-off: 8pm
Referee: Matthew Gillett
Crowd: 6,836
Brisbane Roar line-up: 1. Michael THEOKLITOS (gk), 2. Matthew SMITH (12. Matt MUNDY 64-), 3.Luke DEVERE, 5. Ivan FRANJIC, 6. Erik PAARTALU, 7. Kosta BARBAROUSES, 8. Massimo MURDOCCA, 9. Jean Carlos SOLORZANO (11. REINALDO 77-), 15. Matt McKAY (c) (17. Mitch NICHOLS 77-), 22. Thomas BROICH, 23. Milan SUSAK
Substitutes Not Used: 20. Andrew REDMAYNE (gk)
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
Perth Glory line-up: 1. Tando VELAPHI (gk), 2. Josh MITCHELL, 3. Jamie COYNE, 7. Jacob BURNS, 11. Branko JELIC, 12. Scott NEVILLE, 13. Tommy AMPLETT, 15. Howard FONDYKE (16. Adriano PELLEGRINO 64-), 17. Todd HOWARTH, 19. Naum SEKULOVSKI (14. Steven McGARRY 13-), 23. Andrija JUKIC (9. Robbie FOWLER 64-)
Substitutes Not Used: 20. Aleks VRTESKI (gk)
Yellow Cards: Andrija JUKIC 25-, Tando VELAPHI 33-, Scott NEVILLE 70-, 75-
Red Cards: Scott NEVILLE 75-, Josh MITCHELL 90+1-
