Roar down Sydney in injury time 2-1

 

By , 15 Jan 2012 AAP is a Roar Pro

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Happy times as Brisbane Roar break Australian undefeated record (AAP Image/ Patrick Hamilton)

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Fiery Brisbane striker Besart Berisha has been told to control himself better after sparking an ugly post-match melee in the Roar’s dramatic A-League escape-act against Sydney FC.

Two goals in the last minute of injury time gave the Roar an astonishing 2-1 comeback victory over the Sky Blues at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday night.

In crazy scenes reminiscent of last season’s grand final, Berisha headed home the match-winner in the dying seconds before triggering the emotion-charged melee.

The Albanian international had words with Sydney defender Pascal Bosschart after the final whistle when he’s understood to have responded to an incident during the match and offered to meet the Dutchman in the change room.

Berisha ran from the field and then players and officials from both camps came together as tempers flared on the sidelines.

Sydney’s goalkeeper Liam Reddy, a former Brisbane player, and his ex-team-mate Mitch Nichols, who helped set up the winning goal, were in the thick of the skirmish, while Berisha was restrained by non-playing team-mate James Meyer.

Roar midfielder Massimo Murdocca was unaware of what sparked the conflict but felt Berisha, who overcame a calf injury to play, needed to rein in his natural passion.

“I think Besart has got to try and control himself a little bit,” Murdocca said. “He’s a fiery character but look we love him as a player and he’s the sort of player we want up front.”

Brisbane coach Ange Postecoglou was disappointed by the spiteful scenes which tarnished a thrilling climax to a gripping match.

“We do a lot of things really well in our game but fighting isn’t one of them – we should leave that to other sports,” Postecoglou said.

“The vision I saw, Bess shouldn’t have gone over there (to Bosschart).

“There was enough going around but I don’t think anything happened.

“If (Berisha) has crossed the line I’ll address it with him, but at the moment I’ll let things die down and get the information we need and go from there.”

Brisbane’s unlikely victory was set up by a brilliant Mohamed Adnan free kick in the 94th minute when the impressive Bahraini defender lobbed the Sydney wall and gave Reddy no chance.

The Sky Blues, who hit the lead with a 39th-minute strike from Mark Bridge, were left gutted by the defeat after looking certainties to snap their six-match victory drought.

“We couldn’t ask anything more of our own performance,” said captain Terry McFlynn. “Everything that we could do we did tonight.”

Brisbane’s win cut frontrunners Central Coast’s lead to six points at the top of the competition after the Mariners were held to a 1-1 draw with Newcastle.

While the Roar surprisingly started the match with Berisha, German playmaker Thomas Broich and Brazilian striker Henrique were eased back from injuries off the bench to lift their side in the second half.

© AAP 2012

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