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Super Sydney pile misery on the Roar in Brisbane

Sydney FC will be looking to make a statement against the Mariners. (Photo: AAP)
Roar Guru
24th October, 2014
97

Two long distance goals from Marc Janko and Milos Dimitrijevic condemned Brisbane Roar to their third defeat in three games at Lang Park on Friday night, while the hugely impressive Sydney FC have had their best start to a campaign ever, moving to nine points from their three matches.

Sydney were unaffected by playing their third game in six days, and put together a well organised and committed display to further build on their excellent start to the A League in 2014-15.

Mike Mulvey, who managed his 50th A-League match tonight, will be hoping to use the bye week next week to regroup and pick his team up.

Brisbane do not look the same side that won the title last year, with players missing from last year’s championship winning side through transfers and injury. Results will need to improve soon if they are to mount a decent title defence.

The Roar’s typically possession heavy, passing game, relies on great close control, accurate passing and great movement from 1 to 11. It only takes one of these factors to be off and opposition teams can start to cause them problems.

Graham Arnold organised Sydney perfectly and as a result they were able to disrupt the Roar’s movement and force the midfield to rush their passes, resulting in scrappy play and constant turnovers in the first half.

When it was announced that Michael Theo was going to be injured for the first few games of the season, I felt Brisbane could struggle. The Brisbane keeper plays such an important role in terms of maintaining possession, acting at times as a sweeper, as well as his excellent shot stopping ability.

Theo has excellent feet, and without him, Brisbane should adapt and try not to involve the keeper so much in maintaining of possession. This is easier said than done though when Brisbane have built a lot of their success on building from the back, and Young was placed under a lot of pressure in the first half by Sydney’s high line.

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Sydney’s opener, on 28 minutes, came from a misplaced kick from keeper Jamie Young, who’s under pressure clearance was controlled by Marc Janko, who then nonchalantly thumped the ball into the far corner.

Despite Arnold being unhappy with Sydney’s schedule leading into the game, with an FFA Cup tie on Tuesday night, his players showed high levels of energy and superb discipline to impose themselves early and stun Brisbane.

After gaining some confidence from a spell of sustained possession at the end of the first half, Brisbane came out looking better and more confident in the second half.

Their good start was undone however in the 55th minute, when Milos Dimitrijevic scored a stunning 30-yard goal, firing past Young who was well beaten despite being slightly off his line.

If Sydney were fortunate in regaining possession from a loose clearance that deflected off referee Peter Green, the interplay to create space between the defence and midfield lines of Brisbane was exceptional – and the finish was also top quality.

This is the first time I’ve seen the defending champions this year, and I was surprised at how insipid they looked in front of the SBS cameras in the first half.

Brisbane did have some back luck leading into the game, with key midfielder Tom Broich going down with an injury to the outside of his knee in the warmup. Despite being cleared fit to play, this seemed to have a huge effect on the German, and without that focal point in midfield Brisbane did struggle.

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This match highlighted what a number of people suspected, that in some games, Brisbane will struggle without Berisha this year. Not having a recognised target up front hurt Brisbane tonight.

The biggest crime in sport is to remain still when everyone else around you is moving forwards. And arguably, without Besart Berisha and Ivan Franjic, Brisbane have lost two of their best.

Theo’s absence is also hurting them, and his return can not come soon enough. Hopefully for Brisbane, they can arrest the slide, and pick up their elusive first win.

Sydney on the other hand, improve their unbeaten run in the league, and look to be the early front runners this season.

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