A Sergio van Dijk brace has led Brisbane Roar to a drought-breaking 2-0 victory over Adelaide United at Hindmarsh Stadium on Friday night.
Van Dijk took a successful penalty kick in the 35th minute before doubling the visitors’ advantage with a blazing strike early in the second half.
The result sees the Roar replace the Reds in seventh spot on the ladder and keeps them in touch with the competition’s other finals aspirants. It also hands Ange Postecoglou his first win as senior coach.
Brisbane was under siege in the first half until Scott Jamieson fouled Reinaldo with a body block in the right side of the box.
Van Dijk took the kick from the spot and sent the ball into the right hand corner of the net as goalkeeper Eugene Galekovic dived to his left.
A short David Dodd pass across the box set up van Dijk up for his second-half goal – he pulled the trigger from 10 metres and silenced the crowd.
The Roar could’ve gone even further in front in 63rd minute if the referee had deemed a Mitch Nichols strike a goal. Replays of his powerful attempt showed the ball had crossed the goal-line and should have been awarded.
“The last couple of weeks we’ve worked really hard but haven’t got a lot of reward and tonight we worked hard and deserved the win,” he said.
“We defended well when we needed to, we had to absorb some pressure which you do away from home and then I thought when we attacked we looked dangerous and were maybe unlucky not to get another goal.”
Adelaide United coach Aurelio Vidmar said it was ‘frustrating as hell’ to lose another game at home.
“You look at that first 30 minutes and it was everything we wanted, we created a number of chances but we haven’t got that ability at the moment to put the ball into the back of the net.”
For large chunks of play, Adelaide was the better side. It had plenty of scoring opportunities with a penalty kick by substitute Lloyd Owusu in the 70th minute the best one.
Owusu, who was gifted the opportunity after Luke Devere had been called for hand ball, sent the ball towards the right hand corner but a diving McMaster got a hand to it and deflected into the woodwork.
After an uninspiring opening 15 minutes to the first half, in which a placid Mitch Nichols grubber was the only shot on target, the Reds started to take control with patient possession and probing set pieces.
In the 26th minute a Travis Dodd run and mini-cross created space in the box for Cristiano. The Brazilian got his shot away but goalkeeper Griffin McMaster anticipated the play and trapped the ball off the boot.
Only moments later Robbie Cornthwaite headed a Jamieson corner to the turf but McMaster managed to flip the bouncing ball over the crossbar on the second attempt.
And then the visitors struck against the tide of play. Van Dijk’s penalty kick breathed life into the Roar’s game and by the break they were the team displaying the greatest initiative and flair.
Kristian Sarkies was a prominent midfield influence during the first half but became a scoring option after the break.
His long free kick at the 55th minute was just off target while a few minutes later he blazed away but missed to the right once more.
Travis Dodd and substitute Cassio were also visibly disappointed with their second-half attempts from close range in the 69th minute and injury time.
Adelaide United 0
Brisbane Roar 2 (van Dijk 35, 51)
Crowd: 11,209 at Hindmarsh Stadium
