Brisbane Roar coach Mike Mulvey insists there’s no reason to panic despite watching his side slip to their second straight loss in a heartbreaking 3-2 defeat to Perth Glory.
The Roar appeared on track for their first win of the season after Mensur Kurtisi’s maiden A-League goal and an Henrique wonderstrike from the edge of the box gave the visitors at 2-1 lead in the 55th minute on Sunday.
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But a hat-trick to star Glory recruit Andy Keogh – including the winning header in stoppage time – sunk the Roar’s hopes in front of 8789 fans at nib Stadium.
The result left Brisbane second last on the table with no points to their name following last week’s 2-1 defeat to Adelaide.
The defending champions have just five days to lick their wounds before facing Sydney FC at Suncorp Stadium on Friday night, but Mulvey isn’t worried one bit.
“Panic is a manifestation of being ill prepared. We are very well prepared,” Mulvey said.
“There’s no point in panicking, is there?
“We are bottom of the table along with Western Sydney. There’s the two grand finalists from last year. One of them is in the Champions League final.
“We ain’t going to be crying. We’re not going to be blaming anybody else other than having a look in the mirror and getting ourselves back to Brisbane to get ready for Friday night.
“I know as a playing group we’re on the right track, and I’ve got supreme confidence in the group of players in there that we’ll start winning games.”
Keogh has now scored four goals in two A-League games, as well as three goals in two FFA Cup games since arriving at Glory on a two-year deal.
The Irishman opened his account against the Roar from the spot in the 49th minute after being brought down in the box by a lunging Jade North tackle.
The 28-year-old added a second in the 74th minute when his powerful strike deflected off Roar defender James Donachie and into the back of the net.
Keogh was a tad lucky to be awarded that goal, but there was no doubt about his 92nd-minute winner when he got on the end of Scott Jamieson’s corner to nod the ball home.
Glory coach Kenny Lowe jumped out of his seat in celebration after the goal went in, but he was doing his best after the match to play down the growing hype surrounding Keogh and his table-topping team.
“He’s a centre forward, he’s there to score goals. That’s what he does,” Lowe said.
“It’s two games into the season. Let’s not get carried away.
“It’s a funny old game football. It can swing very quickly. We’re just going to stay balanced.”
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