Sydney FC were unable to capitalise on having an extra man for the entire second half as a relentless 10-man Brisbane held on for a 1-1 draw in an action-packed A-League clash on Friday night.
The Roar had destroyed Sydney in their previous two clashes this campaign – 4-0 and 5-2 – and could have had one hand on the Premiers’ Plate with victory on Friday.
But any chance of another big win at Allianz Stadium was dealt a massive blow when the Roar were reduced to 10 men as their most potent attacking weapon, Besart Berisha, was sent off for a questionable challenge late in the first half.
His 23rd-minute goal had given the visitors the lead before Sebastian Ryall levelled just over 10 minutes later.
Sydney were dealt a double blow in attack with Alessandro Del Piero ruled out with back tightness and striker Ranko Despotovic sidelined with a knee injury suffered at training during the week.
But that didn’t stop the Sky Blues from coming out firing looking to assert themselves on the league leaders.
Despite Sydney’s strong start it was the Roar who broke the deadlock with usual suspects Thomas Broich and Berisha combining beautifully to give Brisbane the lead.
Broich delivered a precision ball into the box for the Albanian striker, whose looping header lifted him to equal top of the goal-scorers’ list with his 11th strike this season.
The Sky Blues didn’t drop their heads and found the equaliser in the 35th minute, a superb corner by Nikola Petkovic finding Ryall in the box for the easy header.
But the game was turned on its head when tensions boiled over between the two goal scorers just minutes later after Berisha brought down Ryall with a two-footed challenge.
The Roar striker was left seeing red by the referee as Brisbane were left to play out the match a man down.
The Roar however, continued to press and created the best chances of the match with midfield maestro Broich still wreaking havoc with Sydney’s defence and Liam Miller looking dangerous.
Ali Abbas worked tirelessly down the left flank for Sydney and had a chance to give them the lead late in the match but his shot went just wide.
Richard Garcia could have sealed the win for Sydney if not for a perfectly-timed interception from Matt McKay.
The Roar continued their assault in the dying minutes with both Luke Brattan and Brazilian Henrique drawing brilliant saves from Sydney keeper Vedran Janjetovic.
Petkovic had the 13,073 fans on the edge of their seats with his extra time free-kick just going wide.
In a rare sight, Sydney FC coach Frank Farina was seen consoling Berisha after the opposition striker was sent off.
“I’ve had to walk up tunnels when I’ve been sent off and it’s not pleasant,” he said.
“He’s not a bad block to be honest.”
But the coach couldn’t hide his bitter disappointment with the result.
“We were our own worst enemies tonight,” Farina said.
“If you look at the stats and the possession we turned over in our own half or in the middle third, it was terrible to say the least.
“We’ve got to be better than that if we’re going to take advantage of those situations.
“I’m just not happy it was almost like we were scared on occasions or panicking or rushing. I certainly expect better.”
Roar coach Mike Mulvey was fuming at the red card saying the decision “is not the A-League’s finest moment.”
“I’m very disappointed we didn’t get three points,” Mulvey said.
“If we’d kept 11 on the park we would have won the game comfortably I think.
“The players can be proud of how they played in the second half.
“We were the team who were trying to win the game.
“We should never have lost the game after gong 1-nil up against a team who was not going to score a goal against us, in my humble opinion.”
Ginger71
Guest
in my 35 years of Football we have always had "Minor" premiers, ive got plenty of trophies showing the same.
Ginger71
Guest
you cant get a red card for lungeing at the ball. The ball is not a player. Ryall was ahead of Berisha and got to the ball first, and as for the push to Berisha, thats always a yellow and thats what he got.
Ginger71
Guest
Neil
Guest
MV has nothing to do with it, it is because he not playing in Orange.. Time will tell if my hunch proves to be correct.
j binnie
Guest
Langou - Where do you "draw the line' when assessing an "act" as you put it ,is it when the studded boot is one foot away from the potentially damaged leg or is two feet or even a metre????? So you understand my view I see the sliding tackle,a lunge, call it what you may, as almost the pinnacle of bad defensive play for if the perpetrator misses the ball he is left on his backside totally outside of the defensive efforts of his teamates. jb
Passionate_Aussie
Roar Rookie
If that's the way you wish to operate,, then by all means, Langou.
Legro
Guest
Carle is rubbish, even old cranky franky figured this out.
Da`
Roar Rookie
30.8% of Roar goals were scored in the 75th to 90th minute and 61.5% were scored in the second half. Only 18.8% of Sydney FC goals were scored in the 75th to 90th minute and 53.2% scored in the second half. (Ref: http://au.soccerway.com/teams/australia/sydney-fc/4295/statistics/; http://au.soccerway.com/teams/australia/brisbane-roar-fc/4321/statistics/). This suggests to me that the Roar are fitter and finish better than Sydney FC generally. And this goes a long way in explaining why the roar finished the match better, despite being a man down.
langou
Roar Guru
What about a dumb hunch. Is a hunch allowed to be dumb?
Ian
Guest
Perth Glory though have not gotten over the 2012 Grand Final where you were 'robbed' of victory at 1-1 a man down and out on your feet.
Ian
Guest
exactly Ballymore. I',m sure there are quite a few players who incur more yellows and reds than Berisha over the last 3 seasons. But Berisha just invokes more of a reaction.
Ian
Guest
Ok Johan, so NRL has 50% and AFL has 44%. Hardly an overwhelming position of superiority. AFL wants to have 9 teams in the finals though.
Punter
Guest
That's why their is no 'Minor' to our premiership like yours.
Ballymore
Guest
You are overstating the risk of Berisha being sent off for MVFC. He has played about 70 league fixtures for BR + 7 ACL matches. He has been sent twice (2 YCs v Perth and 1 RC v SYD). So he is sent off every 38 or 39th match. He has signed for 2 HAL seasons, (say 60 matches MV play in that time approx.) Therefore, we can expect Berisha to be sent off once during his initial deal with MV. Not an unreasonable amount.
Ballymore
Guest
Even down to 10 men, away from home, not beating Sydney is unacceptable. Sydney FC are a mediocre club and outplaying them but not winning is a disappointment. Our finishing, especially from Miller was embarrassing. It is one thing not to score, but another thing entirely to consistently kick the ball in the 23rd row. One shot from McKay went into touch, not a goal kick. When Berisha was in mid-air about to tackle Ryall I thought he would deserve a red card, however, by the time he was closer to Ryall there was barely any contact. I felt a yellow card would be appropriate. Regardless, Berisha's antics were humiliating. Rolling round like you are having a seizure is a disgrace and affront to Australian sport. If he behaves like that, he should leave the club today. This means Berisha will miss the match with MVFC. Would have been interesting to see a player play their future employer, doesn't happen often.
langou
Roar Guru
I was only referring to the first incident when talking about Ryall I do not think the ref should take into account whether an injury was sustained or not. It should be the act itself which the ref needs to judge on.
j binnie
Guest
langou- Ok Berisha deserved a red card for a desperate lunge wih studs showing (wish someone would explain to me how any sliding tackles can be made without showing the studs) & Ryall only got a yellow for his retaliation ,albeit rather tame retaliation.Let us go to second half when Broich had made an absolute mug of the right back & in the act of leaving him stranded, was blatantly tripped.No second yellow appeared though the foul was given. Farina noted the "danger" even if the ref didn't, he replaced Ryall within minutes obviously thinking of the next game. Overreaction? I take it you have watched the replay in slow motion & noted that the "exposed studs" were nowhere near Ryall's legs.I watch European Football every week and see worse challenges where the referee,with no apparent injury caused,gives the "sinner" a real good talking too with an ultimatum. To me that is good refereeing,forget the letter of the law & administer punishment as the occasion demands. So you fully understand me,had Berisha connected & broken a leg it would not be 2 or 3 weeks I would give him it would be a panel to see if he should be allowed to continue playing. jb
Passionate_Aussie
Roar Rookie
No Langou it's not. A hunch is a feeling and it doesn't need to be based on fact, evidence, knowledge or information.
langou
Roar Guru
The idea that there is a conspiracy within FFA to favour Victory over other teams is a fairly ignorant hunch to have
langou
Roar Guru
Berisha deserves a few weeks on the sidelines. The tackle was dangerous and capable of causing damage to the player. The playacting that followed was embarrassing and capable of causing damage to the sport. Ryall retaliated but it was nothing more than a love-tap and I'm glad the ref didn't overreact.