Polished show from Victory silences Roar

MELBOURNE Victory continued Brisbane Roar’s dismal FFA Cup record with a 5-1 thrashing at Perry Park last night.

A near full-strength Victory line-up was never troubled by the Roar, which was often its own worst enemy on a night to forget for the John Aloisicoached team.

The embarrassing loss signalled another early Cup exit for the Roar. In four years of the competition, the Roar has only progressed past the round of 32 once.

In contrast, the Victory won the Cup in 2015, and on the evidence of last night, could be set for another deep run.

Up 2-0 at halftime via goals from Mitch Austin and James Troisi, the Victory had well and truly sealed the contest five minutes into the second half thanks to two penalties in quick succession converted by Besart Berisha and Mark Milligan.

Down 4-0, there was no way back for the Roar, who conceded a fifth goal in the 74th minute when Berisha netted his second after being set up by Troisi.

The dejected crowd of 3184 at least had something to cheer about in stoppage time with new signing Peter Skapetis netted a consolation goal with a sweet strike from distance.

However, it was too little too late for the Roar.

Perhaps the only consolation for the Roar — which were without key defenders Luke DeVere and Avraam Papadopoulos, as well as former Victory star Fahid Ben Khalfallah — is that it has plenty of time to rectify the situation before the start of the A-League season in October.

Elsewhere last night, Sydney United thrashed FNQ Heat 7-2 at Edensor Park, Adelaide United beat Newcastle Jets 1-0 at Adelaide’s Coopers Stadium, and Bentleigh Greens advanced after a penalty shootout with Hume City following a 1-1 deadlock.