A late header from Adelaide United substitute Jordon Elsey has condemned Brisbane Roar to a 2-1 loss at Suncorp Stadium tonight.
A late header from Adelaide United substitute Jordon Elsey has condemned Brisbane Roar to a 2-1 loss at Suncorp Stadium tonight.
After conceding from a penalty and losing a player to red card inside the first 45 minutes, the Roar-s courageous second half effort, which included a superb goal from the returning Besart Berisha, was not enough to take any points from the match.
The visitors were gifted the first real chance of the match inside five minutes as Roar skipper Matt Smith conceded a foul in a dangerous position just outside the box.
Former Brisbane boy Michael Zullo, appearing at Suncorp Stadium for the first time in opposition colours, curled the free kick over the wall toward the top corner and forced a point blank save from Michael Theo.
Adelaide-s Argentinian marksman Jeronimo was adjudged to be fouled inside the penalty area by the Roar ‘keeper on the 20 minute mark and referee Alan Milliner awarded a spot kick to the visitors.
Theo managed to save the resulting penalty but Jeronimo reacted quickest to his miss and followed up to convert with the rebound.
The match found itself in a scrappy period and soon after the home side were down to ten players, Diogo Ferreira receiving his marching orders following a second caution from Milliner.
However, the 17,493-strong crowd were treated to a better spectacle after the half-time break and reserved their biggest cheer for the return of Berisha who was introduced to the contest in the 56th minute.
He proved to be a spark for Mike Mulvey-s men and got his just rewards with 10 minutes left to play, latching onto a superb ball forward from birthday boy Matt McKay to smash home the equaliser in front of the Den.
The home side pushed forward for an equaliser, Mulvey even prompting goalkeeper Theo into the foray for the last two corners of the game, but it was Adelaide who stole the points in the 91st minute.
Zullo-s cross from the left was met by the head of Elsey to hand Brisbane their second home loss in a row.
The Roar are on the road, away to Perth Glory next week, before hosting a double header with Brisbane Roar W-League on Friday, 24 January.
Brisbane Roar 1 (Besart BERISHA 80-)
Adelaide United 2 (Jeronimo NEUMANN 20-, Jordon ELSEY 90+1-)
Saturday, 11 January 2014
Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
Kick-off: 4.30pm local time
Referee: Alan Milliner
Crowd: 17,593
Brisbane Roar: 1. Michael THEO (gk), 2. Matthew SMITH (c), 3. Shane STEFANUTTO (19. Jack HINGERT75-), 10. HENRIQUE (7. Besart BERISHA 56-), 11. Liam MILLER, 13. Jade NORTH, 14. Diogo FERREIRA, 17. Matthew McKAY, 18. Luke BRATTAN, 22. Thomas BROICH, 23. Dimitri PETRATOS
Substitutes not used: 20. Matthew ACTON (gk), 27. Brandon BORRELLO, 34. Patrick THEODORE
Yellow cards: Diogo FERREIRA 11-, 41-, Jade NORTH 15-, Michael THEO 19-, Liam MILLER 83-
Red cards:Diogo FERREIRA 41-
Adelaide United: 1. Eugene GALEKOVIC (c/gk), 2. Nigel BOOGARD, 3. Jonathan McKAIN, 7. Jeronimo NEUMANN (31. Ryan GRIFFITHS 63-), 8. ISAIS, 13. Steven LUSTICA, 14. Cameron WATSON (26. Anthony COSTA 73-), 16. Daniel BOWLES, 17. Awer MABIL (23. Jordan ELSEY 76-), 18. Michael ZULLO, 21. Tarek ELRICH
Substitutes not used: 20. Paul IZZO (gk), 32. Nathan KONSTANDOPOULOS
Yellow cards: Nigel BOOGARD 52-, Cameron WATSON 62-, Jordan ELSEY 82-
Red cards: Nil
