Brisbane Roar has booked their place in the Westfield FFA Cup Round of 16 with a 4-0 win over National Premier Leagues WA side Stirling Lions in Perth tonight.
Goals to Henrique, Corey Brown, captain Matt Smith and Jean Carlos Solorzano sealed the historic result but the home side made it difficult for the Hyundai A-League Champions at times, with Moses Kalau particularly lively.
After an uneventful opening 10 minutes, Lions’ Hayden Doyle gave the Roar a scare with a powerful strike that crashed against the upright before Brisbane attacker Dimitri Petratos had his own chance to open the scoring with an improvised volley that was also denied by the woodwork.
In the 28th minute, Kalau forced Roar shotstopper Michael Theo to palm the ball away from a well-taken free kick before Mike Mulvey’s men broke the deadlock two minutes later up the other end.
The Stirling defence did well to clear a goalbound effort off the line only for Brisbane’s little Brazilian Henrique to come up with a stunning bicycle kick to score his side’s first ever Westfield FFA Cup goal.
The three-time Hyundai A-League champions fell into their groove after the break, Brown finding the back of the net within ten minutes of the restart before Smith – playing against his cousin and Lions right-back Rikki Smith – made it 3-0 with an emphatic header.
Substitute Solorzano rounded out the score line to 4-0 with twenty minutes left to play with Stirling having their chances to pull back a consolation goal through Phil Arnold, who skewed his shot wide in the 80th minute, and Kalau who pulled another save from Theo in stoppage time.
Brisbane Roar will found out their opponent for the next round of the Westfield FFA Cup this Friday, 22 August.
Stirling Lions 0
Brisbane Roar 4 (HENRIQUE 30', Corey BROWN 55', Matt SMITH 63', Jean Carlos SOLORZANO 68')
