Brisbane Roar has played out a second straight draw to open the Hyundai A-League season at Suncorp Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
The Roar welcomed the Phoenix to Brisbane in humid and sapping conditions, with neither side able to break the deadlock infront of 15,129 fans at Suncorp Stadium.
The result is the fourth straight stalemate played between the two sides with Head Coach John Aloisi saying his side just needed a little polish in the final third.
“It was a difficult night because we haven’t really played against a team with five at the back and two sitting midfielders, who defended really deep,” Aloisi said.
“We found it hard to penetrate them. In the first 10 minutes, I thought they had the better of the game, but we controlled it after that. We had the better of the opportunities and just had to watch their counterattack which I thought both Avram [Papadopoulos] and Jacob [Pepper] dealt with that very well though.
“We probably just lacked that sharpness in the final third, that was the difference. It was clear that we were getting into good areas, but we just lacked that finish.”
The visitors missed a golden opportunity to take the lead in the game’s early stages as former Newcastle United defender Steven Taylor failed to hit the target from point-blank range after sneaking in at the back post.
That would be as close as the Phoenix would come to beating Jamie Young in the opening half as the Roar built into the contest and quickly took control.
The home side dominated possession throughout the first period, and laid claim to the better chances as well to no avail.
Clear-cut chances were hard to come by early in the second half with Jamie Young called on to make no more than a couple of routine saves while Eric Bautheac went nearest at the other end, firing just wide of the bottom corner after being afforded too much space.
The game began to open up, developing into an end-to-end contest as both sides searched for a crucial go-ahead goal.
Arguably the best chance of the afternoon fell to new Roar recruit Alex Lopez who stinged the palms of Filip Kurto with a driven shot at the end of a slaloming run which began inside his own half.
The deadlock remained up to the final whistle with Stefan Mauk saying the Roar will look to improve ahead of next weekend’s trip to Perth.
“It’s hard when a team comes out to just defend. I don’t think they really wanted to take the game to us and we probably didn’t adapt as well as we should have,” Mauk said.
“We had quite a few chances still, and we probably could have kept the ball a bit better too. It’s disappointing, but we’ll look to improve.”
The Roar now hit the road for the next two Hyundai A-League fixtures, firstly taking on the Glory in the west next Saturday night (9pm KO QLD time) before travelling to Mudgee in regional New South Wales to face the Wanderers on Saturday, 10 November (4:35pm KO QLD time).
KEY MOMENTS
- A dashing run and near-perfect cross from Connor O’Toole was only millimetres away from finding Adam Taggart’s head in one of the first half’s best chances.
- Just 10 minutes into the second half, Roy Krishna appears set to be played in behind the Roar defence, with only a terrifically-timed sliding intercept from Avram Papadopoulos denying the Phoenix.
- The Roar continued searching for an opener in the dying minutes of the game with Lopez forcing Kurto to stretch to his right and palm the ball away with a driven shot from distance.
MATCH DETAILS
Hyundai A-League Round 2: Brisbane Roar v Wellington Phoenix
Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
Sunday, 28 October
Brisbane Roar 0
Wellington Phoenix 0
Half-time: 0-0
Crowd: 15,129
