Reigning champions Brisbane Roar showed why they remain very much the benchmark side in the Hyundai A-League with a 3-0 win over Perth Glory on Saturday night.
Reigning champions Brisbane Roar showed why they remain very much the benchmark side in the Hyundai A-League with a 3-0 win over Perth Glory on Saturday night.
Besart Berisha (2) and Henrique were on target for the visitors, although the later took the gloss of a fine personal performance when he was dismissed shortly after the hour-mark for raising his hands to Jacob Burns.
nib Stadium was turned into a sea of white as the White Line Fever theme for Therapy Focus captured the imagination of the Glory faithful and the thousands of white scarves handed out to the fans were soon being used as impromptu umbrellas when an unseasonal rainstorm swept in from the south shortly after kick-off.
On the field, meanwhile, it was the visitors who looked the more purposeful in the opening exchanges, dominating possession and probing away at Glory-s backline with their trademark short passing game.
The home side gamely tried to squeeze Roar and deny them any space to work in, but Ange Postecoglou-s men retained their composure and looked a real threat every time Henrique received the ball down the right.
Having flashed a shot across Danny Vukovic-s bows as early as the tenth minute, the livewire Brazilian went one better midway through the half when he came in off his wing to hand his side the lead.
Besart Berisha was the provider, threading a clever through ball between Bas van den Brink and Steve Pantelidis and Henrique was on it in a flash, rounding the helpless Vukovic before netting from a tight angle.
The goal ironically came moments after Billy Mehmet had fired Glory-s first shot just wide of Roar ‘keeper Michael Theoklitos- left-hand post and to their credit, Ian Ferguson-s side upped their game in the immediate aftermath of the opening goal.
With the back four playing a higher line than they had in the early exchanges, Glory managed to gain more of a foothold in midfield and the result was two decent half-chances before the break.
Firstly Travis Dodd weaved his way into the box only to lose his footing on the greasy surface as he prepared to pull the trigger.
And then in first-half stoppage time, Dean Heffernan managed to get forward down the left and whip in a dangerous cross, but as Mehmet loomed, Theoklitos just managed to get a vital fist onto the ball and deflect it away to safety.
Having finished the first-half on the front foot, Glory began the second in a similar vein and created their best chance of the game to date seven minutes in.
Steven McGarry showed great vision to slip the ball inside Ivan Franjic and release Sterjovski, but Theoklitos got down well to beat away the former Socceroo-s shot at the near post.
Just as they mounted their first sustained period of pressure in the game, however, Glory were stung by the visitors on the break.
Henrique again carved out a crossing opportunity down the right and this time Berisha was the recipient, holding off van den Brink before swivelling to lash a close-range shot past Vukovic.
Two minutes later Roar stunned the Shed into silence as Berisha turned home Nick Fitzgerald-s cross to bag his second and his side-s third, but the decibel level was almost immediately restored as Henrique received his marching orders for aiming a slap across the face of Jacob Burns.
Even with ten men, however, Roar remained largely unruffled and for all Glory-s efforts, they struggled to break down a defence marshalled by of Matt Smith and Mohamed Adnan.
On came Andrezinho Todd Howarth and Tommy Amphlett, but despite getting into some decent positions, the home side failed to test Theoklitos.
Perth Glory: 0
Brisbane Roar: 3 (Henrique 21-, Berisha 59-, 61-)
Saturday, 25 February 2012
nib Stadium
Attendance: 10,367
Perth Glory: 1.Danny Vukovic (GK), 3.Bas Van Den Brink, 4.Billy Mehmet, 5.Steve Pantelidis, 7.Jacob Burns (C) 8.Adam Hughes, 13.Travis Dodd, 14.Steven McGarry (27.Andrezinho 64-), 19. Josh Risdon (17.Todd Howarth 79-) , 21.Mile Sterjovski (15.Tommy Amphlett 85-), 35. Dean Heffernan
Substitutes not used: 20. Neil Young (GK),
Yellow cards: Heffernan 15-, Sterjovski 61-, Vukovic 66-, Pantelidis 85-
Brisbane Roar: 1. Michael Theoklitos (GK), 2. Matt Smith (C), 3. Shane Stefanutto, 5. Ivan Franjic, 6. Erik Paartalu, 7. Besart Berisha, 8. Massimo Murdocca (11. Issey Nakajima-Farran 75-), 10. Henrique, 16. Mohamed Adnan, 17. Mitch Nichols (19. Jack Hingert 86-), 24. Nick Fitzgerald (21. James Meyer 70-)
Substitutes not used: 20. Andrew Redmayne (GK)
Yellow cards: Fitzgerald 57-, Smith 89-
Red cards: Henrique 65-
