Eastern Suburbs defeated by under strength Brisbane City

Brisbane City upstaged their more fancied rivals Eastern Suburbs 2-0 in what was a tight and often dour affair at Spencer Park on Sunday.

The win sees Brisbane City move out of the relegation zone and will surely boost the side’s morale after a number of disappointing results over the previous weeks.

Eastern Suburbs would’ve have been confident of a good result coming into the match and planned to take advantage of what was a weakened Brisbane City side still facing the consequences from last week’s undisciplined display against Rochedale.

As expected it was all Eastern Suburbs in the opening few minutes, creating two great chances for striker Xavier Lopez on the back of dangerous long balls into the box, yet the marksman failed to capitalize on either occasion.

Both teams struggled to control possession as the half progressed, with the game turning into a scrappy affair in the middle of the park.

It wasn’t until the 43rd minute that Brisbane City had their first real chance of the match, Sebastian Bell missing an empty net from only five yards out after receiving a decent cross from Julien Inoue.

While both sides were still scoreless at the break, the early stages of the second half failed to offer fans anything different as both sides struggled maintain possession for more than a few passes.

Eastern Suburbs had a rare opportunity in the 60th minute when Arturo Mojica unleashed a dangerous volley off the back of a curling corner kick from Ryan Stenhouse. The powerful effort however deflected wide off the back of some brave defending from City skipper Luke Farrinazzo.

Brisbane City’s Korean import Bo Hyun Chun finally gave the fans something to cheer about in the 68th minute when some individual brilliance saw the home side take a surprise 1-0 lead.

After receiving the ball at the edge of the 18 yard box, Chun made a skilful 180 degree turn before unleashing a magnificent curling effort that crashed into the top corner of the net.

Eastern Suburbs looked to bounce back quickly following the goal however their inconsistent play in midfield held them back from truly threatening City goalkeeper Aurelian Berson.

Brisbane City put the match beyond doubt in the 84th minute courtesy of a strike from Hwang Kyoung Sub, coolly finishing inside the 18 yard box following an accurate assist from Chun to give City a 2-0 victory at full-time.