Sydney FC’s winless wobble stretched to four competitive matches as Brisbane Roar banked a precious 2-1 win at Allianz Stadium on Saturday night.
Matt McKay and Jacob Pepper were both on target inside 20 minutes to leave the champions with back-to-back Hyundai A-League defeats for the first time since April 2016.
Milos Ninkovic halved the deficit just shy of the hour, but the best their late rally produced was a Matt Simon shot against the post.
Instead, Brisbane clinched a third successive away victory that moves them just two points shy of the top six.
Catch up with all the highlights and stats in our match centre!
STORY OF THE GAME
- GOAL! Perfect start for Roar as McKay punishes some sleepy marking from a corner in the ninth minute.
- GOAL! It gets better for Brisbane with Pepper doubling the visitors’ advantage following a free-kick.
- DENIED: The VAR intervenes to cancel out an Alex Wilkinson goal after the defender is shown to be offside on Adrian Mierzejewski’s free-kick.
- GOAL! The Sky Blues are back in it on the hour thanks to Ninkovic’s point-blank header.
- CHANCE: Ninkovic could have two in two minutes, but he dallies over the opening and shoots past the post.
- CHANCE: Massimo Maccarone is unable to make a clean connection with a close-range shot on the turn.
- POST: Substitute Simon fires into the near post from a narrow angle.
- CHANCE: Another opportunity for Simon, who can only turn Bobo’s brilliant outside-of-the-boot pass into the side-netting.
- SAVE: Jamie Young keeps out Brandon O’Neill’s free-kick deep into stoppage time to preserve three points.
GOALS
Matt McKay, Brisbane Roar 9′: 0-1
McKay is left free at the near post on Eric Bautheac’s corner and squeezes a clever header past Andrew Redmayne.
Jacob Pepper, Brisbane Roar 18′: 0-2
Ivan Franjic expertly heads Fahid Ben Khalfallah’s deep free-kick back into the danger zone, where Pepper is on hand to bury the loose ball.
Milos Ninkovic, Sydney FC 59′: 1-2
Young is beaten by the flight of Jordy Buijs’ free-kick as Ninkovic is allowed to bury a simple, unchallenged header.
