The Roar
The Roar

Advertisement

Brisbane Roar vs Western Sydney Wanderers: A-League live scores, blog

25th January, 2019
Live Comments
Advertisement

Brisbane Roar FC

2

Match Complete

Western Sydney Wanderers FC

2

97
BRFC2 : 2WSWFC

Autoplay in... 6 (Cancel)
Up Next No more videos! Playlist is empty -
Replay
Cancel
Next
Roar Guru
25th January, 2019
133

Brisbane Roar FC

2

Match Complete

Western Sydney Wanderers FC

2

A. Taggart96'
T. Mikkelsen92'
90'T. Russell
D. Bowles69'
68'J. Sotirio
61'J. O'Doherty
J. Hingert49'
A. L. SA!nchez49'
42'K. Yeboah
31'K. Yeboah
18'R. Bonevacia

17
Shots
11
5
On Target
3
21
Fouls
19
3
Corners
2
2
Offsides
2
0
Red Cards
0
3
Yellow Cards
4

Show Preview

This season’s real underachievers, Brisbane Roar and the Western Sydney Wanderers, take each other on for bragging rights and to keep alive a mathematically improbable chance of finals in Round 16 of the A-League at Suncorp Stadium this Friday evening at 7:50pm (AEST). Join The Roar for live scores and a blog of the match.

If Australia had an integrated league pyramid, this would be an old-fashioned relegation six-pointer. Alas, for fans and neutrals, it will merely be a chance for both teams to continue to blood new talent and work on tactical improvements in a live environment.

Let’s be honest – both of these teams have had appalling seasons. Neither has won in 2019 – the Roar is yet to chalk up a win under interim manager Darren Davis – and both clubs sit miles outside the top six.

And the hits just keep coming. Irreplaceable players are out for this game from both sides. Playmaker Eric Bautheac and veteran Matt McKay are both suspended for Brisbane, joining key players Brett Holman and Stefan Mauk on the sideline.

For the Wanderers young midfield shuffler Keanu Baccus is also suspended, while German number 10 Alex Baumjohann and Socceroo Josh Risdon are also unavailable.

Despite the threadbare squads one area where both sides have talent is up front. Former Socceroo Adam Taggart will lead the line for Brisbane – he’s sitting third on the table for goals with nine, while both Oriol Riera and Kwame Yeboah are available for the Wanderers.

In fact, we may see Riera and Yeboah start together for the first time in this match, in a proposition that promises to excite.

Brisbane went into this season with high hopes. Adding Taggart to a side that had competed regularly in finals was seen as a great coup and had the potential to catapult Brisbane into the top three or four clubs in the league.

Advertisement

But it hasn’t worked out that way, and former manager John Aloisi resigned just before New Year pointing out that he had taken the side as far as he could.

And while Aloisi was able to control the narrative of his exit, stuck in second place and without much hope, he likely jumped before he was pushed.

The issue for both teams in this game, as most others, will be getting the ball to their front line. Indeed, this poses as a real battle between two young and inexperienced midfields.

Add to this the Wanderers’ leaky back line, as they’ve conceded 17 goals in those six games in since the New Year. When they can’t maintain possession and control of midfield, the Wanderers’ defence doesn’t have the ability to keep goals out.

Indeed one starts to wonder how long Wanderers’ coach Markus Babbel – who has turned into a fashion chain-store pin-up boy – will last in this league.

Week on week he seems increasingly exacerbated by his team’s errors. On the flip-side he is promoting youth – Keanu Baccus, Jordan O’Doherty, Tass Mourdoukoutas, Mathieu Cordier, Kwame Yeboah, Tate Russell, Abraham Majok and goalkeeper Nick Suman all playing regular roles in the team.

And while they haven’t got the results, they have generally been good and competed in each game.

Advertisement

So while Babbel may not be here for a long time, he is at least setting the club up well for future seasons.

The risk for both clubs, however, is that by the end of this season, both teams could find themselves competing with the expansion clubs in the manager market.

The Wanderers fans and back office will be hoping that this injection of youth may get on a run of form and encourage Babbel to stick with this project.

Prediction
This really could go in any direction. Both teams will be desperate for some kind of momentum going into the final phase of the season, and both sides – despite the outs – still have enough quality to put the ball in the back of the net.

For mine the Wanderers are due for some luck, and if we can see Yeboah and Riera up front together, their mix of skill, speed and guile could terrorise the Brisbane backline.

One thing is near certain though – expect the big names to get the goals for either side.

Brisbane 1 – Western Sydney Wanderers 2

Advertisement

Hide Preview

close