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.
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.
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.
Fussball IUL
Roar Rookie
@concerned supporter 1) The score from last night is rare. The competitive tension & quality are the norm in Aleague this season 2) I haven't heard about the NRL match you mention, but that's not unusual since I've lived in Australia since the 1970s & I've never watched a full RL match ... ever. NRL doesn't get a mention in Melbourne.
concerned supporter
Guest
Fuss, Good Luck to Soccer,but games like the Wanderers are rare. Suppose you missed the Cronuula v Penrith game. Games like that have been frequent this year.
Freddie
Guest
"I WILL correct you" - and there we are. j binnie in a nutshell. See ya Mr Narcissist.
j binnie
Guest
Freddie - Once again your comment has added absolutlely nothing of consequence to the debate . Pity, i thought you might have had an opinion of your own. but you appear to be supporting jupiter 53's opinion and here I WILL correct you, for I never said he was wrong !!!!! I simply asked him to reconsider his comprehension of Law 12 which he,jupiter 53, had offered to our debate. Get it???? an opinionative debate,---- no right, no wrong. Cheers jb.
Freddie
Guest
And of course jupiter53, he ALWAYS returns to read every answer, just to ensure no stone is left unturned, and no poster is left uncorrected. We are indeed blessed.
Mike Tuckerman
Expert
"I haven’t watched a full game of A-League all season…" No doubt your opinion of the A-League will be treated with the grain of salt it deserves.
j binnie
Guest
FreddIie - Haven't come across you on this site before but thank you for the commwnt re. my knowledge of "everything", albeit far from the truth. Unfortunately your rather sad attempt at sarcasm has the usual "end result" it shows a complete lack of understanding of what a site like "Roar Football" is all about.Let me try to explainn. This site was set up so that football fans from all around the country could discuss at length the pros and cons on what they have sighted in recent occurences wthin the game itself and because of the "individualistic" side of the contributions they are in fact usually very opinionative in their content. Now I don't know if you comprehend the word OPINION but in fact an opinion can never be RIGHT or WRONG for it is based on the thought patterns of individuals, and how they perceive the subject matter, Because of this, further discussion is encouraged, as individuals explain how THEY perceive the subject matter and so a discussion forum is set up where other individuals can enter into the discussion and perhaps alter the thought patterns of others. So you see your last sentence is correct,many people can enter into a discussion but who is RIGHT and who is WRONG never actually comes into the equation for the incumbents to the article, and how it developed under discussion, are simply stating "opinions" Unfortunately your attempt at "discussion" added nothing new to the debate ,neither opinionative or factual . Hopefully this will improve if you continue to contribute Cheers. Your font of knowledge,jb
gogo
Guest
I haven't watched a full game of A-League all season... I grew up in Europe playing and following Football from an early age. Aussie Football still doesn't excite me... Finals Football? What a load of garbage. Don't try to be smartas.es here in Australia and reinvent Football. It doesn't need to be reinvented...Learn from the Europeans, and follow their style.
Jets Fan
Guest
Horto, you refuse to face reality. Outside of these few posters, no-one in the game cares what you and your mates think. If you are so passionate, get involved see what really happens at club level. See how much money is needed by NPL teams to be able to step up and compete in a B- League. Regardless of how many people would like to see a B-League, and I am one, the money just is not there. trying to modify a group of NPL leagues just so it can be called a B-League does nobody any good, it devalues what we already have. Sorry mate but there will be no P&R in Australia for at least ten years. Just enjoy what we have!
Bfc
Guest
bahaha...
craig
Guest
" a business buys products (raw materials) and adds some value to them (design, manufacturing, service, distribution etc) and then sells it for a profit." you are so wrong it's not funny. go into bunnings, coles, woolies and most other shops. they are simply buying a product and then putting a mark up on it.
Midfielder
Guest
JB Just looked at the site ... thank you thank you thank you thank you..
Freddie
Guest
Haven't you learned the rules of football threads on the Roar jupiter53? j binnie is ALWAYS right. Other peoples opinions (including referees, commentators, everyone), exist only in reference to his, in order that he can correct them. But for what its worth, I and many other people, agree with jupiter53's assessment. And crucially, so did the referee. End of story.
brian drian
Guest
what is FFA's reasoning for not allowing transfer fees? I would love to know.
BES
Guest
..."in a manner befitting two of the most successful clubs in the land." Not "two of the most successful" Mike - THE two most successful....
Onside
Guest
As a matter of interest, the Grand Final could be held in either, Adelaide, Western Sydney or Brisbane Nobody yet knows. And hey, I love the A league , the finals , the whole kit and caboodle. It's terrific. And in two weekends time it will be over. Enjoy the journey, OK PS : get behind Aussie teams competing in Asia .Doesn't matter if they are not your 'local ' club. They are running up the flag representing our tucked away little comp . Bloody fantastic.
gdeath
Guest
*points to J-league: For a five year period starting in 2015, the J.League changed to a newly conceived multistage system, with the year split into two halves and a third and final championship stage. The winners of the first and second stages and the highest ranking club of the aggregate table (other than the first or second stage winners) will qualify for the Championship Stage. The winner of the Championship Stage will advance to the 2016 FIFA Club World Cup as the host nation's entrant.
Fussball IUL
Roar Rookie
"WC isn’t a knock out. Even the finals have a group stage" Please tell me you're joking? 32 nations are involved in the World Cup tournament. The Group Stage involves each team playing only 3 matches. If you're trying to equate the A-League with the World Cup, the World Cup would need to have each of the 32 nations playing 62 matches: 31 home & 31 away. Then, after playing 62 matches, if the top 16 teams were involved in the knock-out finals you would be correct to equate the current Aleague system with the World Cup. If the ALeague H&A were limited to 3-6 matches then I would gladly embrace the winner of the knock-out finals as being worthy of Champions.
Dean
Guest
WC isn't a knock out. Even the finals have a group stage before the round of 16 which is the beginning of the knockout phase.
j binnie
Guest
Jupiter53 - No dispute about the skill shown by the striker,but read your interpretation again and ask yourself, was a treatable graze to the head not evidence that when the boot was at it's highest point there was a "head in the way" never mind being close???. Think about it. Cheers jb