Reigning A-League champions Melbourne Victory have outplayed Brisbane Roar to record a 2-1 win at Etihad Stadium. Ernie Merrick's men could have easily made a meal of the visiting Roar, having a plethora of chances, but had to settle for a one-goal win - their first home salute of the season - that enabled them to climb back to the summit of the competition.
Melbourne Victory: 2 (Ney Fabiano '4, Adrian Leijer '72) Brisbane Roar: 1 (Reinaldo '11)
Venue: Etihad Stadium Crowd: 19,587
The Round 9 version of the Melbourne v Brisbane fixture begun in a similar fashion to that of the Round 2 contest with early goals being scored.
The Victory opened up the scoring in the fourth minute through Brazilian import Ney Fabiano who powerfully headed home from a pinpoint Archie Thompson cross to get the fixture off to a flying start.
It looked one-way traffic for the Victory at one stage until the Roar equalised through a Brazilian of their own.
Scottish midfielder Charlie Miller collected a ricochet and supplied samba striker Reinaldo with a juicy through ball that he tucked away coolly to square the ledger.
On the 20 minute mark, Melbourne's Thompson almost put his side in front when he received a perfectly played ball from Fabiano, danced around the defence and smashed his shot into the crossbar much to the relief of Roar keeper Liam Reddy.
The Victory had many more chances than their counterparts and once again almost went ahead when Thompson found himself clear at the top of the area but put his shot into the path of Reddy who was able to hold on and complete a vital save.
Fabiano had another great chance right on the stroke of half-time when he powered his way through the defence only to see his shot rattle the inside of the upright and trickle back past him as the whistle sounded.
Both sets of players were pressing hard for the goal to put their side in front in the second term and it all went to plan for the Victory in the 72nd minute when Hernandez looped a free-kick to the back post where defender Adrian Leijer was on hand to nod towards goal.
His header hit Roar defender Craig Moore and dropped back in his path enabling him to knock it past Reddy and give the Victory the lead.
In the 83rd minute, Victory's Thompson could have wrapped it up when he shot on target but Roar keeper Reddy was up to the task and kept his side in with a chance.
However, Reddy's efforts were in vain as the home side went on to record a vital three points that sees them jump to the top of the table.
