Brisbane Roar FC have taken a point after a frustrating draw against Melbourne City at AAMI Park in the Hyundai A-League.
Jamie Maclaren’s (below) first-half goal was later cancelled out by City’s Nicholas Colazo, seeing the scoreline finish 1-1 in a game flooded with goal-scoring opportunities.
Head Coach John Aloisi was pleased with his side’s response after conceding early in the second half and believes his side had their chances to win the match.
“In the first half I don’t think we kept the ball as well as we could have, we didn’t shift them enough,” Aloisi said.
“We started to do that in the second half and we started to play the way we know how to.
“We go into every game trying to win and tonight was no different. I thought that we created enough opportunities to maybe get the win.”
The Roar are now undefeated in their past seven Hyundai A-League fixtures. Michael Theo continued his fine form between the posts with a number of top saves with Thomas Broich and Luke Devere (below) also putting in strong performances.
Broich had a penalty appeal waved away in the second half following a challenge from Michael Jakobsen but Aloisi praised the decision-making of referee Shaun Evans throughout the match.
The hosts had more possession in the first half but did not have the same dominance in chances created as both sides caused problems for the respective goalkeepers throughout the opening 45 minutes.
City keeper Dean Bouzanis was called into action on 20 minutes after Jack Hingert launched an audacious attempt from the left wing after spotting the City keeper off his line, forcing Bouzanis to quickly backtrack and tip the ball behind for a corner.
Anthony Caceres came closest to opening the scoring for the hosts in the first half, latching on to a Manny Muscat cross and thumping a header against the crossbar.
Muscat’s errand clearance moments later opened the door for Jamie Maclaren to score in his fourth consecutive Hyundai A-League match, which he did, burying a shot from the top of the six-yard box into the bottom corner.
Michael Theo was forced into two saves in quick succession in the shadows of half-time, thwarting goal-bound efforts from Bruno Fornaroli and Luke Brattan.
A thrilling end-to-end encounter developed after half-time as both sides took turns carving attacks before City equalised under controversial circumstances through Nicholas Colazo as tensions and atmosphere rose inside AAMI Park.
The Roar looked the quicker of the sides to settle following City’s equaliser and continued to craft attacks. Jamie Maclaren went close twice, forcing saves from Bouzanis on both occasions.
Dimitri Petratos (below) had the game’s final opportunity in stoppage time coming close to curling home a winner but his shot flew wide of the right post as the two teams shared the spoils.
Goals
38′: Thomas Broich speeds towards goal down the right wing and looks to find Dimitri Petratos at the back post. His long ball is cut off inside the area by Manny Muscat whose poor first touch lands at the feet of Jamie Maclaren who finishes from the on top of the penalty spot. 0-1
54′: Interplay at the top of the area allows Nicholas Colazo to split the Roar defence and find the back of the net despite a strong hand from Michael Theo. 1-1
Talking Point
The Roar are now seven games undefeated in the Hyundai A-League and now return home to Suncorp Stadium, a venue they have not lost their last ten matches.
Quote unquote
Brisbane Roar goalkeeper MICHAEL THEO; “We knew that Melbourne City are a wonderful team and we weathered the storm and had a couple of chances where we maybe could have pinched the game.
“Both teams want to win. At the end of the day we go hard for 90 minutes and give our all.
“We’re scoring goals but conceding some too. We just need to get back into our rhytym and I think we played better tonight than we have in the last two weeks.
“We just have to keep going, we’ve only lost once in nine games so we need to stay positive and play the football we know we’re capable of.”
Brisbane Roar attacker THOMAS BROICH: “I think we should have won the game but I thought tonight we showed the right spirit. At times we pressed really high, we kept the ball well and created heaps of chances.
“It wasn’t perfect but it was a really good performance. If we perform like we did tonight week in, week out we’re going to win games regardless of any decisions.”
What’s next?
The Roar play Adelaide United at Suncorp Stadium on Sunday, 11 December (4pm KO QLD time) as part of a Hyundai A-League/Westfield W-League double header before travelling to Central Coast Stadium for the second time this season on December 18.
Match Stats
Hyundai A-League Round 9, Melbourne City v Brisbane Roar, Saturday, 3 December at AAMI Park
Melbourne City 1 (Colazo 54′)
Brisbane Roar 1 (Maclaren 38′)
Half-time: 0-1
Melbourne City FC: 2.Manny MUSCAT, 3.Joshua ROSE, 4.Connor CHAPMAN, 9.Nicholas COLAZO (17.Tim CAHILL 84′), 10.Anthony CACERES, 12.Nick FITZGERALD (11.Bruce KAMAU 74′), 18.Paulo RETRE (27.Fernando BRANDAN 46′), 20.Dean BOUZANIS (gk) 22.Michael JAKOBSEN, 23.Bruno FORNAROLI (c), 26.Luke BRATTAN
Unused substitutes: 1.Thomas SORENSEN (gk), 34.Denis GENREAU
Yellow cards: Dean BOUZANIS 56′, Fernando BRANDAN 74′, Manny MUSCAT 89′, Bruno FORNAROLI 95′
Red cards: Nil
Brisbane Roar FC: 1.Michael THEO (gk), 3.Luke DEVERE, 5.Corey BROWN, 7.Thomas KRISTENSEN (8.Jacob PEPPER 86′), 9.Jamie MACLAREN, 11.Tommy OAR (28.Brandon BORRELLO 74′), 13.Jade NORTH, 17.Matt MCKAY (c), 19.Jack HINGERT (4.Daniel BOWLES 85′), 22.Thomas BROICH, 23.Dimitri PETRATOS
Unused substitutes: 15.Manuel ARANA, 21.Jamie YOUNG (gk)
Yellow cards: Jacob PEPPER 91′
Red cards: Nil
Referee: Shaun Evans
Assistant Referee 1: George Lankridis; Assistant Referee 2: Luke Brennan; Fourth Official: Jonathan Barreiro
