[VIDEO] Brisbane Roar vs Western Sydney Wanderers highlights: A-League scores, blog

Match result:

The Western Sydney Wanderers have won their first away match of the season by beating the Brisbane Roar 4-1 at Suncorp Stadium.

WESTERN SYDNEY 4
BRISBANE 1

A double to Kerem Bulut, and goals to Nikita Rukavytsya and Romeo Castelen, gave Western Sydney their first win away from home in the league since the 12th of April 2014.

It also hurt Brisbane’s chances of making the finals this season.

Tonight was a must win match for the Brisbane Roar, in order to stay close to Melbourne City for 6th spot.

The loss to the Wanderers keeps Brisbane five points away from Melbourne with six matches to go.

They now face each other on Saturday night in what is a huge match for both clubs.

With so much on the line for the Roar, they hardly showed it tonight against the Wanderers.

They looked lethargic, and tired, and were constantly attacked on the counter by the Wanderers.

This play led to the first goal.

After 20 minutes, and a host of chances, the Wanderers won the ball in defence and ran in numbers down the other end.

Castelen, who won the ball in defence, passed the ball to Haliti on the wing, who crossed into the box to Rukavytsya.

With space, the Socceroo would shoot for goal, and beat Young at the left post to score for the Wanderers.

The Wanderers would continue their dominance for the next twenty minutes but would struggle to find the second goal to take control of the game.

With four minutes to go before half time, Western Sydney would pay for it, as Brisbane equalised.

A corner from the Roar would be put into the net by Wanderer Jonathan Aspropotamitis.

It was a stroke of luck for Brisbane but they were now back in the match.

Unfortunately for them it would only last three minutes.

Another counter attack from the Wanderers would find Bulut in the box who would score his 3rd goal for the club.

This was a big blow for the Roar and they never recovered in the match.

15 minutes later, in the second half, the game would be over.

An individual effort from Castelen, who would run into the box and power a goal past Young, would give the Wanderers a 3-1 lead.

They would hold on to the lead until the 88th minute when Bulut would score his second goal of the game to seal the win.

Brisbane had chances, and plenty of possession, but they couldn’t create any chances inside the box.

Apart from the own goal, which was in the box, none of their 17 shots during the match were inside the penalty area.

All of them were taken outside of the box.

You can’t score many goals from that position.

Brisbane will now need to respond quickly, and bounce back against City on Saturday night.

Their season depends on it.

They will be hoping to re-call a few players who are a week away from returning to the side.

The Wanderers, on the other hand, now travel to Perth to take on the Glory on Saturday.

They will be looking to create nightmares for other teams by spoiling the party and winning their remaining matches.

Match preview:

The Brisbane Roar will be looking to keep their finals hopes alive with a win over the Western Sydney Wanderers at Suncorp Stadium tonight. Join The Roar for a live blog of the match from 7:30pm (AEDT).

It is amazing what can happen in 12 months. Last year both teams played out an enthralling Grand Final with Brisbane winning the title for the third time in their history.

This season, as we enter the final stages of the season, one team is out of finals contention, with another on the edge of elimination.

After a horror season, hampered by injuries and fatigue from winning the Asian Champions League, the Wanderers were officially eliminated from the finals race last weekend after a 2-1 loss to Newcastle.

With Melbourne City – who are sixth – beating Sydney FC last Friday night the Wanderers can’t catch them with six matches to go in the regular season. A similar story could happen at Brisbane if they don’t start winning and closing the gap to Melbourne City.

Brisbane’s controversial loss to Wellington last Sunday, who won 2-1 after the game was abandoned, put them five points behind City with seven matches to go.

With one game in hand over City, tonight’s game becomes vital in keeping the reigning champion alive in season 2014/15. A win would put them two points behind City, and with one match to go between the two, it would be anyone’s spot to win.

What helps Brisbane heading into tonight’s match is their recent record against the Wanderers. After losing their first four matches, they have been unbeaten in six contests.

In the two matches between the two this season, Brisbane have won both with a 1-0 scoreline.

The last time Western Sydney defeated Brisbane, was almost two years ago in April 2013.

As a result, they are favourites for the match tonight.

With the Socceroos on international duty, and the Olyroos about to start their 2016 Olympic campaign, both teams are decimated heading into tonight’s clash. When you include injuries to each team, 18 players are out of the match.

For Brisbane they will be missing Matt McKay, Corey Brown, James Donachie and Luke DeVere to international duty, while Western Sydney have three out with international commitments but miss a further eight players to injury.

Brisbane have four injuries with Henrique, Thomas Broich, Michael Theo and Jade North out.

This levels the playing field for the match and both teams have had to resort to youth and guest contracts to fill the void.

For Brisbane, George Lambadaridis, Jack Hingert, Jean Carlos Solozano and Lachlan Jackson are included in the squad. Western Sydney have included Yusuke Tanaka, Nikolai Topor-Stanley, Kerem Bulut, Romeo Castelen and Adrian Madaschi for the match.

Madaschi, who was one of the Newcastle players sacked by the club during the middle of the season, will make his debut for the Wanderers if he is selected.

Picking a winner for this match is tough. With both teams so depleted, this makes it an even contest between the two teams.

The big difference between the teams is that Brisbane have everything to play for and the Wanderers are focused on the Asian Champions League. The Wanderers also struggled to hold out Newcastle last weekend with their youth.

I expect that to continue and Brisbane to record a victory to keep their finals hopes alive.

Prediction: Brisbane 1-0