Brisbane Roar FC
1
Match Complete
Western Sydney Wanderers FC
4
| 92' |  | R. Bonevacia | ||
| 80' |  | M. Bridge | ||
| C. L. Ngoy | | 76' | ||
| 71' | | T. Mourdoukoutas | ||
| 55' | | R. Mahazi | ||
| 46' | | B. Kamau | ||
| 38' | | O. Riera | ||
| 35' | | O. Riera | ||
| 15' | | M. Duke | ||
| D. Wenzel-Halls | | 7' |
| 9 | Shots | 26 | ||
| 2 | On Target | 7 | ||
| 6 | Fouls | 13 | ||
| 4 | Corners | 9 | ||
| 1 | Offsides | 2 | ||
| 0 | Red Cards | 0 | ||
| 1 | Yellow Cards | 4 |
It’s Vedran Janjetovic redemption day as Round 21 of the A-League continues with Brisbane Roar taking on Western Sydney Wanderers at Suncorp Stadium at 7:50pm (AEST). Join The Roar for live scores and a blog of the match.
All who viewed the closing minutes of Brisbane vs Wanderers last clash will have the memory of Janjetovic’s brain fade tattooed on their memory.
After having a good game, he gifted the Roar a chance to equalise deep into injury time, by mishandling a ball destined to go out for a goal kick.
It was a schoolyard error from the veteran keeper, and one that added another ‘con’ to manager Markus Babbel’s “is the A-League the right league for me?” list.
Since that 2-2 draw both teams have been in good form, despite being anchored at the bottom of the table and out of the playoff race.
Both sides have won two of their last three, with the only dropped points for the Wanderers coming in a 1-1 draw against top of the ladder Perth.
Tarek Elrich’s last-minute flyer prevented a battling loss against the Glory after back to back wins for the Wanderers against Adelaide and the Mariners.
Babbel’s slow rejuvenation of the Wanderers squad is bearing fruit of late after the return from injury of countryman Alex Baumjohann, and the continuing form of Roly Bonevacia who, on his night, is one of the more dynamic forwards in the league.
The Roar played out an epic in their last fixture – 5-3 win over 9-man Central Coast.
When star striker Adam Taggart split for Korean club Suwon in the January window, fans and pundits wondered where goals would come from for Brisbane.
But come they have from the emergence of 21-year-old Dylan Wenzel-Halls, and the vast recent improvement from imports Eric Bautheac and Tobias Mikkelsen.
Wenzel-Halls’ pace in-behind, coupled with the trickery of the players in front of him has created a new forward dynamic for Brisbane – one that better suits their counter attacking style.
And so far this new approach is working not only on the scoresheet, but also in their premiership points column.
But the rest of 2019 won’t be about wins and losses for either manager, with both clubs eager to see improvements from their young talent.
Ultimately it’s about exciting the fans with something that will stick in the memory when membership renewals come around.
Prediction
Expect goals. These are two of the worst three defences in the league, but they’re also fourth and fifth in terms of goals scored.
Picking a winner from this high-scoring game is somewhat harder, however the Wanderers are slightly more advanced in their development than the Roar, and will be desperate to get the points after dropping them so calamitously earlier in the year (after being the better team).
Brisbane Roar 1 – Western Sydney Wanderers 2
Lucas Gillard
Roar Guru
In this instance Riera isn't influencing play from the cross-in, but the Pepper touch then plays him onside. That was my read of it.
jbinnie
Guest
Luke - The offside goal that became a goal. I have always understood that "offside" was decided when the ball was last played forward,and in this case, the first photographs showed white jerseys in offside positions before the ball,missed by Duke and glancing off Pepper's scalp, played Riera "onside". So the question remains, when does a referee decide when the ball is last played forward ? Cheers jb.
Lucas Gillard
Roar Guru
Have an excellent long weekend!
Lucas Gillard
Roar Guru
That's all from me tonight folks. A comfortable win for the Wanderers who are improving each week both with and without the ball. After Baumjohann's "lesson" tonight and non-inclusion (and ineitable return), their final third looks really potent. Brisbane? Well this season, and the off season clear-out, can't come soon enough.
Lucas Gillard
Roar Guru
MATCH REPORT. The Wanderers were too good tonight as 4 classy goals proved the difference after first conceding the lead in the 7th minute. After Brisbane scored – from a majestic top corner effort from Wenzel-Halls – the Wanderers took charge and between Duke, Riera and Roly Bonevacia they terrorised the Brisbane defence and midfield. The goal feast started with Duke after 15 minutes, whose long effort slipped under Luke Young’s guard and in. It was a cruel twist for Young who had made a couple of excellent saves before that moment of poor goalkeeping. Compounding matters that error signalled the onslaught, with Riera having arguably his best A-League game, scoring twice in predatory fashion to take the game away from Brisbane. Riera’s first was a brilliant flick volley from a deep ball in and definitely one for the league’s highlight reel. His second, and the Wanderers’ third, was a poachers effort from a lucky deflection from Pepper’s head. It was flagged offside but upheld (correctly) by the VAR who confirmed the deflection off a defender and into Riera’s path. Bonevacia’s late fourth was another cool finish past Young after the Brisbane defence was stretched trying to play the ball out. It was a great way to finish for the Bonevacia who was superb all night and tested Young on a number of occasions. The stats are firmly on the Wanderers’ side, with 58% possession and 26 shots to 9. The final possession figure indicates how well Brisbane fought in the second half after gifting the ball to the Wanderers in the first half to the tune of 71%. Indeed Brisbane had their better moments (post Wenzel-Hall’s goal) in the second half, when they added some youth and energy to their misfiring forward line. Brisbane is a squad of two extremes – youth and veterans – and the veterans really let the side down tonight. Lopez and McKay could not manage Duke and Bonevacia in transition and left gaping holes all across the midfield that Bonevacia could sit in. Similarly Henrique was poor and played with concrete boots tonight. If anything this game should signal the end of former boss John Aloisi’s experience-first recruitment model, as the younger players and A-League cast-offs like Ruon Tongyik, Wenzel-Halls and Lokolingoy gave the Roar much more energy and bite than the alternatives on the bench. For the Wanderers this game will represent the culmination of their work with Babbel, and their stockpiling of damaging forwards over the summer. Yeboah came on for Duke – who had been superb – and didn’t miss a beat, while having Bridge as a late option for Riera is always going to be a luxury for the Wanderers. Can they still make the finals? The mathematics suggest yes – but they are coming from extremely far back and will need either the Phoenix or City to really falter badly to open the door for them. MAN OF THE MATCH was Roly Bonevacia. Riera was excellent, and so was Duke – while Tongyik had a great game for the Roar –but Bonevacia scored once, had an assist and forced some excellent saves from Young especially when the heat was on just after the Roar goal. His composure and skill on the ball is among the best in the League and if the Wanderers do sneak into the finals, with Roly in place they could actually surprise a few more fancied opponents.
Beach
Roar Rookie
Waz, if you you are reading this thread, I so enjoyed this result because you were so wrong.
Lucas Gillard
Roar Guru
FULL TIME. The Wanderers take this in a canter 4-1. It's a better second half from the Roar but the damage was done in the first.
Lucas Gillard
Roar Guru
93' - GOAL TO BONEVACIA! That ends the debate. It's a defensive error that Roly pounces on and blasts his low shot past Young. He's been great tonight and it's the Wanderers 4th. [4-1 Wanderers]
92'
Stevo
Roar Rookie
Pretty much what WSW deserved.
Lucas Gillard
Roar Guru
92' - Important BLOCK from Leck on Yeboah, who cuts back on to his left to shoot but Leck is in the way [3-1 Wanderers]
Lucas Gillard
Roar Guru
There will be 4 MINUTES of EXTRA TIME as we pass the 90.
Lucas Gillard
Roar Guru
90' - Some interesting moments..... Wenzel-Halls gets a shove from Gallifuoco and goes down like he was shot. The referee wants them to play on, and VAR waves it away too -but that looked a shove from my angle [3-1 Wanderers]
Lucas Gillard
Roar Guru
89' - CLEARED by Elrich. Some good moments from Brisbane. Leck looks really comfortable in the attacking third and creates a change for Pepper to get in a cross which needed Elrich's attention. [3-1 Wanderers]
Lucas Gillard
Roar Guru
Apologies, Henrique has gotten up to a jog in the last 20 seconds.
Lucas Gillard
Roar Guru
Unlike the "Janjetovic game", this one is ending with a whimper and not a bang. Both sides look dead on their feet. Henrique has stopped running completely
Lucas Gillard
Roar Guru
We've got about 5 minutes of regulation time to go, and it's been a better half by Brisbane, but ultimately a toothless one.
Lucas Gillard
Roar Guru
83' - Bonevacia floats one WIDE.... but it looks like it took a deflection for a CORNER. A long range effort with an strange trajectory that had Young scrambling as it floated wide. [3-1 Wanderers]
Lucas Gillard
Roar Guru
81' - OFF THE BAR by Yeboah! A thunderous close-range chance that pounds off the woodwork. New boy Gallifuoco plays in Kwame down the right half space, and he takes Tongyik on, gets to the byline and tries something near-post and slams it into the woodwork. Close to a fourth there! [3-1 Wanderers]
Lucas Gillard
Roar Guru
81' - Final SUBSTITUTION for the Wanderers. Mahazi is OFF and Gallifuoco is ON