Brisbane Roar has shared the spoils with Melbourne City in its first Hyundai A-League home match for 2020 on Saturday night at Suncorp Stadium.
Bradden Inman continued his rich vein of form, bagging a first-half brace to make it four goals in three games for the Australian winger.
The Roar and City traded goals twice during the match, with goals either side of half-time from Craig Noone and Nathaniel Atkinson cancelling out both of Inman’s goals.
The Roar opening the scoring shortly after the half-hour mark as a blocked shot from Jay O’Shea fell to the feet of Inman who then fired it into the bottom left corner from close range.
Inman added to his tally soon after with a tidy finish into the bottom left following some neat footwork on the cusp of the break.
Following full-time, Head Coach Robbie Fowler spoke proudly about the improvements that his in-form striker has made over the last month of football.
“I’ve said that that from day one with Brad, if he realises his own potential then he can probably go onto much bigger and better things,” Fowler said post-match.
“He’s probably taking a little bit heed of what I was saying, about his finishing, about his movement, getting on the ball and being a bit more direct going at the players.
“The last three games he’s had his rewards. We kept him out for a little bit, a little bit of a spell on the sidelines has made him a little bit hungrier. We’re happy with that.”
The result extends the Roar’s unbeaten run to three games and closes the gap on the top six sides.
“I can’t fault our lads for effort. I thought we were outstanding in terms of what we put into the game. It’s a good point against a very good team,” Fowler continued.
“The way we played, in terms of possession, that was probably not one of our better games. We’ve not lost a game so there are plenty of positives out of it. Three games undefeated, two draws.”
The Roar are back at home again next weekend, taking on Wellington Phoenix at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday, 18 January (4:00pm KO).
GOALS
Brisbane Roar – Inman 34’ – 1-0
A blocked shot falls to the feet of Bradden Inman who makes no mistake with a powerful finish.
Melbourne City – Noone 39’ – 1-1
Jamie Maclaren nods down into the path of Craig Noone who finishes off the inside of the post.
Brisbane Roar – Inman 45+3’ – 2-1
Neat footwork from Inman loses a defender before an inch-perfect finish into the bottom corner beats Bouzanis.
Melbourne City – Atkinson 49’ – 2-2
From beyond the area, Atkinson fires a tracer bullet into the top left corner.
MATCH DETAILS
Hyundai A-League 2019/20: Round 14 – Brisbane Roar v Melbourne City
Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
Saturday, 11 January
Brisbane Roar: 2 (Inman 34’, 45+3’)
Melbourne City 2(Noone 39’, Atkinson 48’)
Half-time: 2-1
Crowd: 10,659
