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| Credit: Brisbane Roar. "In Rado we trust" |
Broich opened the scoring for the home side in the 21st
minute. Murdocca cutting the ball back to the Roar talisman after getting
behind the line from Shane Stefanutto’s throw; Broich slipped as he took the
shot, but it was still good enough to beat Lawrence Thomas at his near post.
Paartalu doubled the Roar’s lead only a minute later when he
nodded home from a corner kick; the imposing defensive midfielder rising
highest in a crowded penalty area to turn the ball home.
Besart Berisha made it three in the 63rd minute
after Ben Halloran used his speed to get on to a Michael Theo long ball. The
youngster then steered the ball into the path of the Albanian striker, leaving
last year’s Golden Boot winner with the easiest of finishes.
Nichols all but sealed the result when he pounced on a loose
ball in the box on 84 minutes; Ivan Franjic’s high and looping cross falling
into the path of the attacking midfielder after a tussle between Berisha and
Thomas at the near post.
Berisha rubbed further salt into the wound during time added
on when he pounced on Nick Fitzgerald’s squaring ball for the Roar’s fifth.
The match marked Postecoglou’s return to city he abandoned
at the end of last season, however it was his opposing manager, Rado Vidosic,
that won out in a match dubbed the “battle of the tacticians”.
Roar started the brighter of the two teams and created the
first chance when Victory allowed Broich to dribble inside from the left. The
visitor’s blushes were spared however when the German’s shot from the edge of
the area went wide of the target.
Undeterred, Brisbane believed they‘d opened the scoring on
five minutes, when Paartalu slotted a low shot past Lawrence Thomas from 20
yards. However, referee Strebre Delovski ruled out the goal after deeming that Besart
Berisha had unsighted Thomas from an offside position.
Victory found their way into the contest on ten minutes when
Guilerme Finkler and Danny Allsopp combined. Michael Theo diffused the danger
in the first instance by running off his line, however a second through ball a
minute later from Finkler saw Allsopp unleash a shot that failed to trouble Theo.
Brisbane once again took control of the match and following their
quick-fire double squandered two promising opportunities for a third when
Berisha and Matt Smith both headed wide from fifteen yards.
Finkler and Allsopp combined once more before the end of the
half, this time from a free kick. However, Allsopp’s hard-fought header sailed
high and wide, ensuring Roar held their lead at the interval.
The second half fell into a familiar pattern, with Brisbane
once again coming out of the blocks quicker than their opponents in large part
due to an increasingly confident Ben Halloran.
The former Gold Coast United player endeared himself to his
new home crowd, first with a thirty yard run that saw him cross the face of
goal and then with a shot that fizzed wide shortly after.
Halloran then tried his hand as a provider in the 52nd
minute when his dangerous cross resulted in Berisha and then Nichols both mistiming
overhead shots within the keeper’s eight yard box.
Allsopp tried to spark a Victory revival when he found
himself with a sight on goal in the 55th minute, but again his shot
was directed squarely at sure-handed Theo.
Following Berisha’s goal, Brisbane imposed themselves even
further on the match – their high pressing defence denying Victory time on the
ball and their quicker, more direct passing game ensuring large portions of the
second half were played in Victory’s half.
Berisha thought he had snagged a second on 70 minutes.
Broich’s through-ball saw Murdocca get in behind the line, the midfielder then drew
keeper before teeing the ball right, however, for the second time in the match,
Berisha was adjudged off-side at the crucial moment.
Murdocca earned another opportunity on the 75th
minute after Stefanutto cut a ball back from the left to find the midfielder at
the top of the box. However, Murdocca reaffirmed his reputation for poor
finishing when he scuffed his shot wide.
Victory’s night was summed up on 77 minutes when Allsopp
struck the ball well-over the bar from twelve yards after the visitors
pressured Roar captain Smith into an uncharacteristic mistake playing out from
the back.
Ultimately, however, the flashes of promise were few and far
between for Victory, suggesting Victory fans will have to be patient as they
await a much expected return on investment from the Postecoglou revolution.
Brisbane Roar 5 (Thomas BROICH 22’, Erik PAARTALU 23’,
Besart BERISHA 64’ & 90+2’, Nichols 84’)
Melbourne Victory 0
Crowd: 17,364
Teams:
Brisbane Roar
Starting Line-up: 1
Michael THEO (GK), 2 Matthew SMITH ©, 3 Shane STEFANUTTO, 4 Matthew JURMAN, 5
Ivan FRANJIC, 6 Erik PAARTALU, 7 Besart BERISHA, 8 Massimo MURDOCCA, 11 Ben
HALLORAN, 17 Mitch NICHOLS, 22 Thomas BROICH
Substitutes: 18 Luke BRATTAN, 19 Jack HINGERT, 20 Matthew
ACTON, 24 Nick FITZGERALD
Melbourne Victory
Starting Line-up: 2 Matthew FOSCHINI, 3 Adama TRAORE, 7
Guilherme FINKLER, 8 Jonathan BRU, 9 Marcos FLORES, 17 James JEGGO, 18 Daniel
ALLSOP, 20 Lawrence THOMAS (GK), 21 Spase DILEVSKI, 23 Adrian Leijer, 26 Andrew
NABBOUT
Substitutes: 1 Tando VELAPHI (GK), 6 Leigh BROXHAM, 14 Billy
CELESKI, 16 Theodore MARKELIS