Roar’s finals hopes fade

Brisbane Roar’s fading hopes of playing finals football took another blow on Sunday when they were beaten 1-0 by A-League leaders Wellington Phoenix.

Having taken the lead early through Bulgarian striker Bozhidar Kraev, the Phoenix held on despite having captain Alex Rufer sent off in the closing stages at Sky Stadium.

While the Phoenix opened up a six-point advantage at the top of the ladder, the Roar could be as many as eight points adrift of the top six after the round concludes with Monday’s battle between Macarthur FC and Western Sydney.

Roar skipper Tom Aldred, who was hoping to celebrate his 100th A-League appearance with a win, was left to lament a “frustrating” 90 minutes as his side failed to score, despite creating some good chances.

“The performance was good, but the door wouldn’t open,” he told Sky Sport.

“We had opportunities, shots on target, everything to score goals.

“If we equalise it changes the game and we’re in the ascendancy but it wasn’t to be … a really frustrating day.”

The Roar also paid the price for a sloppy start, with the Phoenix going ahead in just the second minute.

Wellington right-back Sam Sutton crossed the ball into the path of Kraev, who took advantage of poor marking from the Brisbane defence to score for the first time in seven matches.

The Roar should have equalised two minutes later but Nikola Mileusnic failed to hit the target, with only goalkeeper Alex Paulsen to beat.

Both sides had good chances in the second half, with former Roar star Kosta Barbarouses believing he had doubled the Phoenix’s advantage in the 59th minute after getting the better of Brisbane defender Kai Trewin and firing the ball past keeper Macklin Freke.

However, the Kiwi international attacker was correctly ruled off-side.