Brisbane Roar has set a new mark for unbeaten matches in the Hyundai A-League with a convincing 5-1 win over the Central Coast Mariners at Bluetongue Stadium in Gosford.
The Roar have now gone 14 games unbeaten in the league to break the previous record held jointly with Adelaide United.
There were no signs of nerves from the Brisbane squad early in the match, despite being acutely aware that a win or a draw would put them in the record books.
Brisbane-s movement going forward was slick early, particularly down the right side of the pitch with Mitch Nichols and Ivan Franjic prominent.
With eight minutes gone that was exactly the path which lead to the opening goal of the contest to Jean Carlos Solorzano.
Latching on to a through ball, Franjic took the ball to the box to cut back to Nichols, his first time shot was well saved by Mathew Ryan in the Mariners- goal but Solorzano was once again in the right place at the right time to pick up the scraps.
The Costa Rican-s second goal two minutes later proved he wasn-t just a goal poacher as he hit a sweetly struck shot from the edge of the box to beat Ryan for a second time.
Solorzano was set up after some very good work down the left by Thomas Broich who squared the ball on the edge of the penalty area to allow the Brisbane striker to smash the ball into the corner of the goal.
Despite being two goals down, the Mariners started to look dangerous moving forward with the ball, Josh Rose causing Brisbane some concern down the home side-s left flank.
Matt McKay went agonisingly close to extending the lead further after Nichols broke down the right and cut the ball to the top of the penalty area for the skipper, but he pulled his right foot shot just wide of the goal.
Matt Simon continued to make sure Brisbane were aware the home side remained an attacking threat with several strikes at goal, but he was unable to find the target in the opening 20 minutes of the contest.
However, it was Brisbane who extended their lead further on 24 minutes when Nichols slotted from the edge of the box on his left foot.
The central midfielder played the ball wide to Kosta Barbarouses who beat the defence before cutting the ball back to Nichols and the youngster kept his composure for a nice finish on his weaker foot.
Brisbane could have had another with 36 minutes gone after Broich again ran down the left before flashing the ball across the box with a deflection of Patrick Zwaanswijk nearly sending the ball into the far corner of the goal.
Both sides were making good use of the wide areas, but it was Brisbane-s cleaner, crisper passing which was making the difference in the final third of the pitch.
Brisbane went into the break holding onto their three goal lead and on the resumption Graham Arnold made a few changes, bringing on Adam Kwasnik for an injured Matt Simon and replacing Mustafa Amini with Daniel McBreen.
The change almost made an immediate impact with Kwasnik running onto a long ball from the back, but his side foot effort on goal was well saved by Michael Theoklitos.
Kawsnik did, however, get a goal back for the Mariners in controversial circumstances on 50 minutes.
The striker again beat the offiside trap, twisting and turning in the box before shooting at goal.
Mariners midfielder Oliver Bozanic was standing in front of Theoklitos in an offside position and made a play at the ball before it hit the back of the net, but the goal was allowed to stand.
The goal sparked the Mariners into action and they pressed hard to further reduce the deficit much to the delight of the home crowd.
However, Matt McKay was the next to nearly put his name on the scoresheet after a scramble in the Central Coast penalty area when his right footed shot took a deflection – but Ryan managed to scramble back to catch the looping ball before it crossed the line.
Nichols then went close when McKay swung a delightful ball into the box from the left, but under pressure the Brisbane midfielder headed just wide of Ryan-s goal.
Barbarouses and Broich both tested Ryan within a minute, however the young goalkeeper stood firm to keep his side in the contest.
Reinaldo was next to go close from a Broich free kick but, despite holding off Alex Wilkinson strongly in the box, he directed his header centimetres past the post.
With three minutes on the clock, Reinaldo made the game safe with a good stretch finish as the loose ball fell to the far post from a Broich shot which was saved by Ryan.
A minute later and Brisbane had a fifth when Wilkinson turned a Barbarouses cross into his own net and the day only got worse for the home side two minutes into stoppage time when Daniel McBreen was sent off after picking up his second yellow card.
Brisbane head coach was full of praise for his side-s effort in setting a new Hyundai A-League benchmark of 14 games unbeaten.
“It-s not easy in this league to go undefeated at any stage, but in particular over such a short period of time and with so much travel thrown in,” Postecoglou said.
“The players have done unbelievably well to cope with everything that-s been thrown at them during the run.
“What we need to do now is to keep going and keep improving on the things we can.”
Following a slow start to the match against Perth midweek, Postecoglou said he was pleased with the response of his charges in Gosford against the Mariners.
“It was a fantastic performance from the players today,” he said.
“Right from the first whistle you could tell they were up for the match and you could see we learned our lessons from the midweek game.
“The passing was a lot sharper and we were even more clinical than we have been in front of goal.”
Central Coast Mariners 1 (Adam KWASNIK 50-)
Brisbane Roar 5 (Jean Carlos SOLORZANO 8-, 10-, Mitch NICHOLS 24-, REINALDO 87-, Alex WILKINSON 88-(og))
Sunday, 28 November 2010
Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford
Referee: Ryan Shepheard
Central Coast Mariners squad: 3. Joshua ROSE, 6. Patrick ZWAANSWIJK, 7. John HUTCHINSON, 8. Rostyn GRIFFITHS, 11. Oliver BOZANIC, 14. Michael McGLINCHEY, 16. Trent SAINSBURY (17. Chris DOIG 89-), 18. Alex WILKINSON (c), 19. Matt SIMON (23. Adam KWASNIK 46-), 20. Mathew RYAN (gk), 22. Mustafa AMINI (2 Daniel MCBREEN 46-)
Substitutes not used: 30. Paul HENDERSON (gk)
Yellow cards: 2. Daniel McBREEN (54-, 90-+2), 18. Alex WILKINSON (74-)
Red cards: 2. Daniel McBREEN (90-+2)
Brisbane Roar: 1. Michael THEOKLITOS (gk), 2. Matt SMITH, 3. Luke DEVERE, 5. Ivan FRANJIC, 6. Erik PAARTALU, 7. Kosta BARBAROUSES, 9. Jean Carlos SOLORZANO (11. REINALDO 63-), 15. Matt McKAY, 17. Mitch NICHOLS (8. Massimo MURDOCCA 72-), 22. Thomas BROICH (12. Matt MUNDY 90-), 23. Milan SUSAK
Substitutes not used: 20. Andrew REDMAYNE (gk)
Yellow cards: 1. Michael THEOKLITOS (50-), 5. Ivan FRANJIC (61-), 22. Thomas BROICH (64-)
Red cards: Nil
