Round 13 had plenty of news off the field. Despite that, there was a nil-all draw, far from boring, between Brisbane Roar and top-of-the-table Melbourne City. There were two games where both teams went down to ten men; Adelaide United and Macarthur FC as well as Perth Glory and Melbourne Victory.
Despite four out of 12 teams keeping a clean sheet, the other eight teams combined for 11 goals. In all four games where a team claimed three points, the winning team had less possession than their opposition.
These were the players that stood out in Round 13 and made it into the team.
Formation 3-4-3
Gauci lived up to the hype surrounding him as a potential replacement for Matthew Ryan in the not-too-distant future. He made eight saves, including a double save that came at a pivotal point in the game, when he saved a shot from Al Hassan Toure and Ulises Davila in the 78th minute. He summed the game up well: “What a game. We stayed strong. we stayed together as a team.”
Kaltak put in a good shift as he helped the Central Coast Mariners stay in the game on the scoreboard. Between the 69th minute and the 78th minute, he curtailed three attacking raids made by the Wellington Phoenix. He appeared to lift the team as they made the deficit one goal in second-half stoppage time and they nearly got something out of the game. He was also good when on the ball.
Aspropotamitis did a good job for Macarthur FC as he curtailed the impact that Adelaide United had. He worked his guts out when they went down to ten men. He helped restrict the impact of Adelaide United to four shots on target, compared with Macarthur FC which had eight shots on target, which showed he didn’t deserve to be on the losing team, but that’s football.
Neville continues to grow in a new role for him this season in the centre of defence. He is a player that has reinvented himself this season as a centre-back. He performed extremely well to help Brisbane Roar keep a clean sheet against Melbourne City. He also ventured forward; Neville provided a cross that put the ball on a plate for Jay O’Shea in the 40th minute. It was a fantastic display as he curtailed an attack for Matthew Leckie in the 90th minute.
O’Neill was one of the best players on the field and the reason why Melbourne City claimed a point in a scoreless draw against Brisbane Roar. He was good when in possession of the ball as he made 55 passes at 92.73 per cent accuracy. His honesty post-match was refreshing: “I don’t think we were quite at the races today.”
Bozanic put in a good shift and was rewarded with a goal from the penalty spot that was the equaliser in the 64th minute against the Newcastle Jets. He helped his team control the tempo of the game and balance of play. Despite the game being a draw he was up beat:
“We need to take the positives out of that.”
O’Shea put in a typical ‘Jay O’Shea performance’ as he was pivotal in the Brisbane Roar controlling large portions of the game against the top of the table, Melbourne City. He passed the ball around and worked hard when the Brisbane Roar were in possession and also led well as per usual. He is one of the most understated imports in the A-League, as you always know what you’re going to get out of him.
Amini played well for the Perth Glory as he displayed why he is the captain. He led through his actions and from the front. His lead up play that led to Ryan Williams breaking the deadlock in the 37th minute was exceptional. Amini helped the Perth Glory control most of the game.
Williams worked hard and was rewarded when he broke the deadlock in the 37th minute. His endeavour was there for all to see and he executed the role that he was chosen to play up front well, as he didn’t rest on his laurels after scoring the opening goal of the game. His attitude was first class: “Just happy we could come away with the three points.”
Taggart was substituted on in the 71st minute when the score was locked at 1-1 and the game was in the balance. He delivered in spades, as he finished the game with a brace and left a Melbourne Victory team languishing at the bottom of the table. Based on the cameo that he made the future looks bright for his time at the Perth Glory.
Zawada provided great lead-up work as he provided the pass that led to the Wellington Phoenix earning a free kick just outside the box in the 15th minute. He even worked hard defensively as he won a free kick in the defensive half in the 12th minute. He was clinical in the final third when he made the perfect run, which led to him giving the Wellington Phoenix a 2-0 lead in the 40th minute.
Cavaquinho
Roar Rookie
Zadkovich has Amini working hard but his passing is very poor at times. His biggest efforts come after he tries to clean up his own mess. I thought Amini would have been a good pick up for Glory but he is barely constructive with what he does with the ball. Maybe he can reinvent himself as a defensive midfielder and become functional with his passing in danger areas but Glory need a decent attacking midfielder.
Melange
Guest
Gauci's double save is interesting, there are a lot of replays of it on social media proclaiming how brilliant they were. However on closer inspection he was very lucky with the second because he'd given up and was just ball watching, not repositioning himself, after the first save.
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
Brattan has done a lot of dodgy things this season, but that wasn't one of them. For the end of 90 minutes he was at least there instead of missing, Redmayne was playing a high line because of Wilkinson , he did get to quite a few through balls because of that, but with Wilkinson off he could have stopped. Corica certainly has stuck with Brattan even when he was hobbling against Adelaide and letting in goals because of it. What about La Fondre he misses two penalties and Corica is giving him even more game time its like being rewarded. Yorke was driven up the wall by these sort of things Corica rewards the perpetrators.
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
Gauci certainly was very good, but the question is were Glover saves better, there were a lot of other good goal keeping performances on top of that. Kaltak was actually one of the worst he gave the ball away in a uncharacteristic first half performance and was asleep on the near post for the second Wellington goal. Aspro why would you give it to a defender whose side was one up for a large portion of the match. Aiden Oneill worked hard but Brisbane won the midfield battle. Amini had his best A-league game ever. Zadkovich seems to have really gotten to him even at CCM in his youngest days he never put in this level of effort. Khellifi was tremendous again, his duel with Folami who had a good game for MV was very good. I think the most obvious choice of the week your missing is Piscopo. His three through balls that placed Sotorio and Buhagiar into one on ones were superb. That they went astray is not his fault in fact I am at a loss as to what the recepients of the balls were up to. Bozanic was certainly slack in that second half how you put him in the team is beyond me. Same as against City, Newiunhoff works hard, and Bozanic is the cog that is failing after leading the charge some weeks earlier. Taggart he came on and did the job scored 2 goals, one was a free header and the other was deflected in so I wouldn't give him full points.
Freddy Jones
Guest
Team reserve: Luke Brattan defensive midfielder casually shadowed and 'defended' Diamanti and just watched emotionless beside Diamanti as the goal of the season floated beautifully into the far corner of the goal over the goalkeeper. Big congratulations to Luke for showing nouse and true grit at critical times in the game when it is truly needed. You have to thank master coach Steve Corica for continuing to entrust the future of the season to you by giving you 90 minutes every week. This pairing is definitely delivering difficult to compare results after 60 minutes for Sydney FC.