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The A-League finals show what football in Australia really is

18th April, 2016
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Fornaroli has been a consistent threat for Melbourne City. (AAP Image/Joe Castro)
Expert
18th April, 2016
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The first week of the A-League finals demonstrated precisely what it is that makes football the most popular sport on the planet.

If there was ever any doubt that the A-League saves its most exciting moments for finals football, it was resoundingly put to bed by two games filled with the most gripping drama.

Bruno Fornaroli’s brace in Melbourne City’s 2-0 win over Perth Glory at AAMI Park last night underscored the Uruguayan’s importance as the A-League’s most effective striker.

Fornaroli’s opening goal was as spectacular as it was contentious, with the Uruguayan’s acrobatic bicycle kick flying in despite the City striker appearing to clip Glory defender Shane Lowry on the side of his head.

Had the action occurred anywhere else on the pitch, it almost certainly would have resulted in a free-kick to Perth for a high foot.

As it was, referee Chris Beath allowed the goal to stand and Fornaroli punctuated his night with an equally spectacular second, curling a free-kick around the wall and beyond the despairing Ante Covic in the Glory goal.

The Uruguayan has made a recent habit of brushing off teammate Aaron Mooy at free-kicks, and on the balance of yesterday’s performance, City will do very well to retain Fornaroli even if Mooy moves on to Europe.

If City were clinical in ending Glory’s otherwise fine campaign, then Brisbane Roar were positively heart-stopping in their 2-1 win over Melbourne Victory on Friday night.

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For 85 minutes at Suncorp Stadium, the two heavyweights punched and counter-punched in a manner befitting two of the most successful clubs in the land.

Having bossed the first half, it looked like Victory’s failure to open the scoring would be rendered irrelevant when a typically belligerent Besart Berisha slid home the opening goal with just five minutes remaining.

Berisha’s wild celebrations in front of the travelling fans proved there’s no room for sentiment, but perhaps Victory would have been better off concentrating on their defending given what happened next.

The visitors were already down to 10 men following Jason Geria’s dismissal, and Victory’s lead lasted barely a minute before Dimi Petratos crossed for Matt McKay to equalise in front of the home end.

If McKay thought his goal was recompense for missing a sitter in the final round, then Thomas Broich’s winner was as cathartic as it gets.

Having fluffed his lines last weekend with the Premiers’ Plate in sight, the mercurial Broich thumped home an unstoppable header in stoppage time to send the home fans into delirium and the Roar into the second week of the finals.

It was drama of the highest order and, not for the first time, Suncorp Stadium erupted amid scenes of unbridled joy, as the Roar salvaged their season with a frenetic five-minute salvo.

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So it is that Melbourne City and Brisbane march on, with the former set to meet Adelaide United at Coopers Stadium on Friday night, while the latter will face Western Sydney Wanderers at Pirtek Stadium on Sunday.

Already a mad scramble for tickets has seen most of those available at Coopers Stadium snapped up, with the game set for a sell-out crowd at the compact venue.

With so few tickets on offer, Football Federation Australia would do well to ask Ticketmaster exactly why there are tickets for Friday’s game on sale at grossly inflated prices on the Ticketmaster Resale website.

By any other name it is scalping, but until our politicians and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission get serious about the problem, ordinary fans will continue to be fleeced with the help of unscrupulous companies like Ticketmaster.

It’s an unedifying aside to an otherwise exhilarating start to the finals, which have yet again justified their key role in the A-League season.

And with Brisbane winning at the death and Bruno lighting up finals football, the round-ball code reminded us once again exactly why we all love the game.

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