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Melbourne City forced a draw against table toppers Brisbane Roar at Suncorp Stadium after a late equaliser from the home side forced a share of the points.
It was a relatively even contest in the early stages and the two teams took an even score into the half time break despite fair chances for both teams before the break.
Neither team was able to take advantage of their limited chances in the opening half but they fought hard at either end to cause havoc for the opposition defense.
It took a Novillo opener in the 47th minute to get the game underway which put the home side under immense pressure despite being in relative control for most the match.
The hosts fought as hard as the visitors battled to retain the lead, but it was just a matter of time before Brisbane hit back. It was through a 70th minute Henrique goal that was set up beautifully by a returning Aaron Mooy.
Despite a strong offensive game play by both sides after the game leveling goal, neither was able to snatch the lead after before the full time break.
While Brisbane will be happy to take the lead on the table, they’ll be disappointed with not taking the three points tonight. Melbourne, on the other hand, will be pleased to come away from this fixture with a point despite trailing their hosts by a large margin in the standings.
Match Result:
Brisbane Roar – 1
Melbourne City – 1
Table toppers Brisbane Roar will play host to Melbourne City tonight at Suncorp Stadium as they look to extend their record and jump clear of Melbourne Victory. Join The Roar for all the action live out of Queensland at 8:00pm (AEDT).
The Brisbane Roar enter this match off the back of 1-nil win over Perth that shot them to top spot on the A-League ladder. Although they’ve now been joined by the Melbourne Victory on 13 points, after their win last night over the Mariners, they once again have a chance to jump clear of the pack.
Contrastingly, Melbourne City are making the road trip to Brisbane after going down in a comprehensive 3-0 defeat to the Wanderers at home to make sure they’d have to wait another week to try and crack a top six spot in the standings.
Despite their disadvantages playing away, Melbourne defeated the Roar in all three of their match-ups last season including a win at Suncorp.
Overall though, the sides share quite an even history against each other; in 15 matches, City have taken the honours in seven, while the Roar have won six with two draws.
Stats of the game: Brisbane Roar are looking to keep four consecutive clean sheets for the first time in the A-League since 2010.
Melbourne City currently have the second best shot conversion rate in the league at 20.3 per cent, despite sitting at the bottom end of the ladder. Unfortunately for them though, the team coming first in this discipline is Brisbane at 21.6 per cent.
For Brisbane, Jamie Maclaren will make his way back from Olyroos duty at the expense of teenager Nick D’Agostino. Matt McKay is also coming back from international duty after his trip to Bangladesh earlier in the week.
Michael Theo (quad strain), Luke De Vere (quad) and Jean Carlos Solorzano (hamstring) are all still unavailable through injury.
Melbourne City welcome back Ivan Franjic from injury as well as Aaron Mooy from international duty who had a blinder in the Socceroos World Cup qualifier. David Williams is also returning from injury for the City.
Aaron Hughes will miss out due to the calf injury he sustained in last week’s game against the Wanderers.
Robert Koren (calf), James Brown (foot), Patrick Kisnorbo (calf) and Marc Marino (knee) are still absent due to injury.
Prediction
The Roar are at home and hungry to solidify themselves at the top of the table against a Melbourne City side who will be buoyed by an Aaron Mooy return.
City have been fairly inconsistent so far this season and I can only see that continuing against a red-hot Brisbane side.
Roar – 3
City – 1
As always you can follow all the goals, shots and tackles on The Roar for 8:00pm (AEDT).
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