Brisbane Roar have won in Melbourne for the first time in eight matches after they eased past 10-man Victory 3-0 in the Hyundai A-League at AAMI Park on Saturday night.
Brisbane Roar have won in Melbourne for the first time in eight matches after they eased past 10-man Victory 3-0 in the Hyundai A-League at AAMI Park on Saturday night.
Liam Miller’s goal mid-way through the first-half set the tone before Matt McKay and Dimitri Petratos scored quality goals after the break to cap off a superb away performance – with Adrian Leijer’s red card making it impossible for Victory to mount a fightback.
In a pulsating first half, Victory had a couple of golden chances but Brisbane gradually took control of the game and there terrific inter-play was rewarded with the first goal.
The Roar took control of the game in the second stanza and dominated the half, particularly when the Victory were reduced to 10 men.
Three points for Brisbane sees them move seven points clear of Wanderers at the top of the A-League table while Victory stay third on 19 points .
Playmaker Gui Finkler made his first start of the season and was in the thick of the action right from the start.
The Brazilian swung in a corner that captain Mark Milligan prodded just wide before putting Kosta Barbarouses through on goal, but the the Kiwi could only shoot straight at Roar custodian Michael Theo.
Brisbane had their first chance of the game in the 15th minute when German Thomas Broich clipped in a delightful cross that Henrique could only head straight at the goalkeeper.
Terrific work from Diogo Ferreira down the left flank on 28 minutes saw the Roar grab the opener as the former Victory player pulled the cross back for Broich and the resulting pass to Miller saw the Irishman plant the ball past the hapless Nathan Coe.
The Roar could have had another just before half-time if it wasn’t for Coe making a point-blank stop at the feet of Henrique.
Brisbane’s Brazilian striker should have doubled the lead after the interval but Coe made a superb finger-tip save after Henrique was released by McKay.
But it wasn’t long until Roar had another with a goal of the highest quality by Miller and finished by McKay.
A one-two between Miller and McKay on 55 minutes saw the Socceroo released clean through on goal to lift the ball over Coe.
McKay had time to miss a sitter from close range before Brisbane sealed the game in the 67th minute as Petratos collected Broich’s pass, cut inside and blasted the ball in the bottom corner.
Things went from bad to worse a minute later when Leijer was given a second yellow card for a poor challenge on Henrique.
The extra man advantage saw the Roar have more chances to punish the Victory but they couldn’t quite create another opening.
Melbourne Victory 0
Brisbane Roar 3 (Miller 28′, McKay 55′, Petratos 67′)
Crowd: 23,121 @ AAMI Park
