Melbourne Victory extended their club-record unbeaten run to 13 matches with a 1-1 draw against lowly Brisbane Roar at a wet and windy Moreton Daily Stadium.
Alex Parsons’ first goal of the Isuzu UTE A-League season early in the second half of the Anzac Day clash had given the Roar the lead before Brendan Hamill headed home to level the scores.
Monday’s result means Victory stay third in the A-League Men standings, four points behind leaders Melbourne City with two games remaining in their regular season.
With Western United between the two Melbourne clubs having played a game less, it seems unlikely Victory can now snatch the Premiers Plate, despite their long unbeaten run.
Coming three days after their 4-1 win over Macarthur FC, Victory made five changes to that team that started against the Bulls and were sluggish and disjointed in the opening half.
Brisbane carved out the best openings of the half with Henry Hore and Parsons both failing to test Ivan Kelava in Victory’s goal before the teams went to the sheds deadlocked.
Parsons made up for his earlier wastefulness in the 54th minute, when he was found by Luke Ivanovic and slammed home from the top of the box to put Brisbane ahead.
Stung into action, Victory head coach Tony Popovic turned to his bench and made a triple substitution.
The changes turned the momentum back in the visitors’ favour and in the 67th minute they restored parity when Hamill nodded home Francesco Margiotta’s cross.
Substitute Marco Rojas could’ve sealed all three points for Victory when he was played clear by Jake Brimmer, but the New Zealand international was denied by Roar goalkeeper Jordan Holmes.
The Roar were almost gifted a winner of their own in the third minute of stoppage time when a backpass to Kelava was pounced on by Juan Lescano but the Argentine couldn’t steer the ball goalwards.
Victory return to Melbourne to host Wellington Phoenix on Friday, while Brisbane’s next game is a trip to Adelaide United on Saturday.
