Brisbane Roar gave Melbourne Victory a lesson in football with a thumping 5-2 win in Redcliffe, owing to a brace from Riku Danzaki and Scott McDonald after Dylan Wenzel-Halls had opened the scoring early on.
Both sides came into this game with vastly different ambitions, as a win would put the hosts on top of the table while the men from Melbourne were looking to get some sort of solidity into a floundering start to their campaign.
The game started on a typically warm and sunny summer afternoon in Queensland, and striker Dylan Wenzel-Halls went down the right side of goal to take a shot after two minutes. The sign of intent towards the near post produced a decent save from goalkeeper Max Crocombe.
But with the visitors looking shaky at the back, Brisbane quickly capitalised to go up 1-0 in the ninth minute. Riku Danzaki guided the ball into the path of Wenzel-Halls as the latter raced past defender Ryan Shotton and took a hard shot guided low and towards the near post. Shot-stopper Crocombe produced a shoddy effort to save the ball as it went off his knee and into the back of the net.
A few minutes later the Roar had gone up 2-0 as things got significantly worse for the visitors. A shoddy headed clearance from Victory saw the ball go towards veteran attacker McDonald. The former Celtic hitman took it on the half volley and timed it sweetly from just outside the box to send it into the left top corner of the net. Questions could be asked as to why the defence did not close him down on that occasion.
Yet Grant Brebner’s men had not learned their lesson after 17 minutes, when Brisbane took the lead to 3-0. Corey Brown had darted down the left side of the box and sent an awkwardly lobbed ball that should have seen either shot-stopper Crocombe collect it safely or defender Adama Traore clear it away. Instead a shambolic level of confusion reigned, which saw the ‘keeper palm the ball into the feet of Danzaki for the simplest of finishes.
As the visitors toyed with disaster, things suddenly started to look up when they scored completely against the run of play to make it 3-1. A long ball from defender Dylan Ryan found Traore on the left flank. The Ivory Coast man sent a speedy low cross that youngster Luis Lawrie-Lattanzio latched onto at the near post to send it past goalkeeper Jamie Young and into the net.
With 10 minutes to go in the first period of play, Victory conceded yet another goal as defensive errors had become as insulting to the travelling fans as it was injurious to their performance. McDonald lost his marker from a corner-kick taken by Brown to easily head the ball home.
A little while later, wing back Storm Roux forced the issue and dispossessed an opponent on the right and cut it back to forward Robbie Kruse, whose shot went over the bar. Despite the failed attempt, the striker’s pace during stoppage time caused the hosts a problem as they were unable to deal with the rushing threat and took the injury prone hitman down just outside the box. Midfielder Jake Brimmer stepped up to take the free-kick and made the wall look invisible as he calmly sent the ball past the goalkeeper to make it 4-2.
Following the break, Brisbane returned to their attacking ways as Wenzel-Halls caught shot-stopper Crocombe off his line and lobbed the ball from long range. While the ‘keeper had been beaten, the goal was not as the ball took one bounce and went over the bar.
Three minutes into the second period, Macaulay Gillesphey waltzed his way into the left side of the box with no defender in sight, and promptly sent a low ball across goal that Danzaki sent in from the far post to take the scoreline to 5-2.
As the hour mark passed by, midfielder Rahmat Akbari burst through the middle and put McDonald in space, but the veteran was unable to bag his third of the afternoon as the shot went wide. Two minutes later the 37-year-old got another chance, but again his effort was off target.
With just over 20 minutes left, Victory wing back Roux made a good run and found himself at the receiving end of a through ball that should have seen him hit the back of the net. While he could have and probably should have, he crucially did not as the effort was not on target.
A few minutes later, striker Elvis Kamsoba – who had replaced Kruse a little earlier – was through in front and rushing towards goal, but shot-stopper Young came off his line to block a shot that would have otherwise gone in.
Just a little more than five minutes of normal time were left when Kamsoba was taken down just outside the box, which almost seemed like a strategy as Brisbane appeared to use technical fouls to break pacy attacks. Brimmer stepped up to take the free-kick as he has done this season, and sent a curling effort on goal that produced a decent save from the goalkeeper.
As the referee brought the game to a halt, Brisbane fans sent their side off with a raucous applause. The last time that the Roar beat these opponents twice in a season was back in 2014 when they won the A-League Premiership and the Championship. For now, however, the three points takes Warren Moon’s men to the top of the table tied on point with Central Coast Mariners.
Melbourne Victory have gone down to the dungeon end of the table as they sit at the bottom following a third loss in five matches.
