Brisbane Roar suffer Melbourne Heart attack

Brisbane Roar ended one streak and began another as they succumbed to Melbourne Heart 2-1 at home. Their second straight loss ended their 21-match undefeated run at Suncorp Stadium

The match started with the Hyundai A-League champions looking uncharacteristically average. Passes missed the mark, players looked to be coasting in second gear and their approach toward goal was less than inspiring.

Heart in comparison were far more impressive in the early stages. They pressed Brisbane and made keeping possession for the home team a difficult feat.

Like Sydney last week, Melbourne were trying to make an impact as quick as possible and had the best chances of the game before drawing first blood in the 12th minute.

A low, bending corner from Mate Dugandzic successfully found Jonatan Germano in the box. Completely unmarked his glancing header was on target, sending the Argentinean into a festive celebration involving a Christmas hat cleverly packed into his shorts.

Brisbane didn’t alter their approach after conceding first even as Heart continued to dominate proceedings, much to the discontent of booing fans.

Wreaking havoc down the left side for Melbourne was Rutger Worm, the only note-worthy German name on the pitch with Brisbane’s attacking master Thomas Broich still absent with a heel injury.

Persistently punishing the frustrated Ivan Franjic and Matt Smith, the Dutchman, Worm, set up the second goal of the evening in the 11th minute. His through ball behind the Brisbane defence set up Germano who crossed it from the left into the square. Keeping his cool, Mate Dugandzic skilfully collected the ball and tapped it back for towering 19 year old Eli Babalj to bury into the net, giving his team a comfortable lead heading into the break.

In the second half, substitutes Kofi Danning and Rocky Visconte gave Brisbane a bit of pep they so desperately needed, with the former playing a role in the first score for the home team, albeit in the 78th minute. Running down the right the youngster cut the ball across the face of goal where an unconfident clearance from goalkeeper Clint Bolton made easy pickings for Mitch Nichols who picked up the scraps to bring it back to 2-1.

Despite an extra five minutes of injury time, try as they might, it was too little too late as Brisbane failed to find the miracle equaliser.

Brisbane Roar:

THEOKLITOS, Michael. SMITH, Matt. STEFANUTTO, Shane. JURMAN, Matthew. FRANJIC, Ivan. PAARTALU, Erik. BERISHA, Besart. MURDOCCA, Massimo. NAKAJIMA-FARRAN, Issey. NICHOLS, Mitch. FITZGERALD, Nick.

Subs:

DANNING, Kofi. VISCONTE, Rocky. ADNAN, Mohamed. ACTON, Matt.

Melbourne Heart:

BOLTON, Clint. MARRONE, Michael. HAMILL, Brendan. FRED. THOMPSON, Matthew. WORM, Rutger. GERMANO, Jonatan. BEHICH, Aziz. BABALJ, Eli. DUGANDZIC, Mate. MADASCHI, Adrian.

Subs:

MAYCON. HOFFMAN, Jason. GOOD, Curtis. MATTEI, Sebastian.

PLAYER OF THE MATCH

3 POINTS: Mate Dugandzic

2 POINTS: Rutger Worm

1 POINT: Jonatan Germano