Brisbane Roar has been knocked out of the 2014 Westfield FFA Cup, losing 2-0 to Adelaide United in tonight’s Round of 16 match at Coopers Stadium.
A goal in each half was enough to secure the win for the home side, despite the best efforts of the Brisbane side – who were without regulars Matt Smith (illness), Michael Theo, Shane Stefanutto and Matt McKay (all injured) – to play their way back into the fixture.
Adelaide was certainly the stronger of the two sides in the opening 45 minute period, heaping pressure on the Brisbane defence from the outset.
The visitors tried to make the most of their chances in the opposition half, a powerful Luke Brattan shot that was deflected wide in the 21st minute one of the better chances for Mike Mulvey’s men.
United were rewarded for their pressure and broke the deadlock 10 minutes from half-time as Awer Mabil played the ball across goal for striker Bruce Djite to turn home from inside the six yard box.
In the 41st minute, Jack Hingert showed good movement down the right wing and found Henrique with his final pass – the little Brazilian playing the ball across goal but no teammate was in a position to knock it into the goal.
The Reds doubled their lead within two minutes of the restart when Sergio Cirio scored a header from close range, giving Brisbane a bigger mountain to climb to reach the Westfield FFA Cup quarter finals.
Brattan worked his way into the midfield battle and just shy of the hour mark put a superb through ball ahead for Henrique with the striker drawing a fine save from Eugene Galekovic.
United continued to press high up the park but the Roar were not without their own chances in front of goal, most notably Dimi Petratos playing a neat one-two with Henrique in the 77th minute, only to skew his final effort wide of the post.
Head Coach Mike Mulvey said his side never really found their groove against Josep Gombau’s team but would now look to work on their teething issues ahead of the start of the Hyundai A-League campaign and hosting the same opposition in round one at Suncorp Stadium.
“I had a chat at half time and said need to pull our finger out a little bit,” he said in the post-match press conference.
“I don’t think we ever really got into a rhythm so you’ve got to give some credit to Adelaide for that but also we take our own criticisms of ourselves and we’ll work on it.”
The Roar open their 2014/15 season at home to United on Sunday, 12 October.
Adelaide United 2 (Bruce DJITE 35’, Sergio CIRIO 47’)
Brisbane Roar 0
