Brisbane Roar roll along with hard-fought win over Melbourne Victory

Brisbane Roar have managed to record yet another win by defeating the Melbourne Victory 2-1 at Suncorp Stadium.

Mitch Nichols’ contentious first-half goal was cancelled out by a neat Robbie Kruse finish before Jean Carlos Solorzano grabbed a winner for the Roar with 13 minutes remaining.

A-League Week 11
Brisbane Roar: 2 (Mitch Nichols 26’, Jean Carlos Solorzano 77’)
Melbourne Victory: 1 (Robbie Kruse 48’)

Venue: Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
Crowd: 9,425
Referee: Peter Green
Yellow cards: BR - nil
MV - Robbie Kruse 28’, Michael Petkovic 83’

Brisbane left off from their impressive 2-0 win over Central Coast Mariners during the week with some very positive stuff, most of which was created by midfielders Matt McKay, Thomas Broich and Massimo Murdocca.

GOAL The 26th minute saw Roar young gun Mitch Nichols stab home from the back post after a corner caught the victory defence short and although there were calls for off-side, the goal stood and the home side took the lead.

Not to be outdone, the Victory were creating chances of their own in what was a fast-moving opening 45 minutes but were unable to equalise before Peter Green blew the half-time whistle.

GOAL Just after two minutes into the second half, former Roar striker Robbie Kruse levelled for the visitors when he received a pass from Leigh Broxham before unleashing with a perfectly weighted shot from outside the area past ex-Victory keeper Michael Theoklitos to make it 1-1.

The test for the Roar for the second time this week was if they would be able to run out the full 90 minutes in the midst of a heavy schedule but they seemed to pull things back in their favour following Melbourne’s equaliser.

The Victory seemed content to sit back and soak up the pressure although Kruse did manage to force a top save out of Theoklitos in the 70th minute indicating that Ernie Merrick was perhaps looking to hit the lead rather than settle for a solid away point.

GOAL But at their most vulnerable, the Roar found themselves ahead in the 77th minute when substitute Jean Carlos Solorzano scored his first goal for the club when he pounced on a deflection following Luke DeVere’s effort. The Costa Rican whipped home with his left giving Victory gloveman Michael Petkovic no chance and giving his side a very handy lead.

The one-goal advantage was eventually enough as Theoklitos managed to make two match-winning saves late in the piece to deny his former side as the Roar went within three points of league leaders Adelaide United whilst the Victory remained fifth.

Starting Line-Ups

BR
Michael Theoklitos (gk), Matt Smith, Luke DeVere, Ivan Franjic, Erik Paartalu, Massimo Murdocca, Reinaldo (Solorzano 64’), Matt Mundy, Matt McKay, Mitch Nichols (Barbarouses 64’), Thomas Broich (Visconte 83’)

Subs - Andrew Redmayne (gk), Kosta Barbarouses (64’), Jean Carlos Solorzano (64’), Rocky Visconte (83’)

MV
Michael Petkovic (gk), Kevin Muscat, Mate Dugandzic (Broxham 31’), Grant Brebner (Angulo 81’), Ricardinho, Roddy Vargas, Billy Celeski, Tom Pondeljak (Kellaway 81’), Carlos Hernandez, Robbie Kruse, Adrian Leijer

Subs - Sebastian Mattei (gk), Leigh Broxham (31’), Marvin Angulo (81’), Geoff Kellaway (81’)