Roar ends a five-year drought
BRISBANE Roar and coach John Aloisi ended years of AAMI Park torment, downing Melbourne Victory 2-1 last night to reignite their ALeague finals campaign.
Massimo Maccarone and Brett Holman scored first-half goals in the Roar’s most composed performance of their stuttering season, lifting them inside the top six.
James Troisi’s 30-metre stunner with seven minutes remaining was a response to his benching by coach Kevin Muscat, but came too late to salvage a result for Victory.
Fielding the oldest side in domestic history — with an average age above 33 — the Roar outsmarted the home side.
Aloisi’s side yielded all the possession but had control of the contest from the seventh minute when Maccarone turned in the box and shot past Lawrence Thomas. Victory will rue missed tackles — from Kosta Barbarouses on exteammate Fahid Ben Khalfallah and James Donachie on the goalscorer — before the Italian’s lethal finish.
On 28 minutes, Donachie was again at fault, allowing Holman to stroke home a freeflowing move that delighted the away fans.
Boos rang out at halftime from Victory fans, with Muscat throwing on Troisi and fresh talent Kenny Athiu and Josh Hope to try a new approach. When Troisi arrowed his shot off the crossbar and home, the Victory faithful among 14,576 in attendance had something to cling to.
Brisbane withstood their efforts to end two of the A- League’s longest droughts. The three-time champions were without a win at AAMI Park in four years, while Aloisi hadn’t seen his side win at the venue for five years. That run of 16 games was made worse by the fact that for half of those fixtures, he was Melbourne Heart manager.
Victory’s loss leaves plenty of questions, beginning with coach Kevin Muscat’s tenure.
Muscat is uncontracted at season’s end, with no guarantee of finals after three straight losses that has the powerhouse club in fifth.