It may not have been Brisbane Roar’s most impressive victory but their 3-2 win over A-League battlers Perth Glory at Suncorp Stadium on Wednesday night was one of significance.
The Roar equalled Adelaide United’s A-League record of 13 straight undefeated games and it was also their 11th straight home game without a loss.
The Roar moved six points clear at the top of the table, however they have played two more games than second-placed Adelaide and four more games than Gold Coast United who are 10 points adrift in third place.
While at times the Roar were made to over use the ball in the midfield to combat the Glory’s early defensive tactics, the home side did manage to conjure up two brilliant goals while a third came courtesy of a penalty.
Jean Carlos Solorzano showed great poise and balance to withstand the physical pressure of Glory defender Jamie Coyne in the 41st minute to open Roar’s account.
Coyne bumped into Solorzano but lost balance and went to ground, while the Roar forward kept his feet, ran on to a loose ball and hooked it past goalkeeper Tando Velaphi who was only metres away and in the direct path of the ball.
Solorzano made it a double with his fifth goal of the season from a penalty kick after he was brought down in the 76th minute by a poor Scott Neville tackle.
Matthew Smith scored Roar’s second goal when he headed a centimetre perfect corner kick by Thomas Broich on the far side of a brewing pack of players in the 58th minute.
The Glory, to their credit, went on the attack after staring at a 2-0 deficit.
Substitute Robbie Fowler slotted a goal from the penalty spot with his first touch in the 66th minute following a handball infringement.
Perth forward Adriano Pellegrino breathed life back into the game when he caught the Roar defence off-guard with a thumping 25m goal in the 83rd minute.
However, the odds were against the Glory even levelling the scores since they were down to 10 men after Neville was sent off in the 75th minute and then nine men when Josh Mitchell was red carded in injury time.
Roar coach Ange Postecoglou said his side has not had a chance to reflect on the chance to equal the A-League record for going undefeated for 13 straight games.
He said their heavy workload, which includes four games in the past 11 days, meant the side had been heavily focused on being physically ready for each encounter and not necessarily thinking about records.
“It’s not that we are ignoring it, we have just had so many games, it sort of creeps up on you,” Postecoglou told reporters.
“You’re so focused on the next game, I know the players have been and us as coaches, it has been a remarkable feat by the players considering the program we’ve had.”
Glory coach Ian Ferguson praised his substitutes Fowler and Pellegrino for scoring second half goals to provide his side with an outside chance of at least drawing the game.
Although that in itself was also frustrating as they didn’t get a point for their hard work on the road.
“That’s the sort of reaction you want from substitutes, you want them to make a difference when they come on,” Ferguson said.
“I’m disappointed we’ve got no points from the last two games.
“To come to Brisbane and score two goals, not too many teams do that, but we’re disappointed we scored two goals away from home and we didn’t win the game.”
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