Victoria sides in race for Asia
JOHN Aloisi reckons Brisbane Roar fans won’t see the best of Eric Bautheac until next season, when he assumes A- League marquee status.
But the Frenchman’s sublime free kick on Saturday night should tide them over until then.
Bautheac produced his finest moment yet in a Roar shirt, curling a delightful shot over the wall from just outside the penalty box, the decisive goal in a 1- 0 victory against Adelaide United.
It’s been a tough season for the 30- year- old, who signed for the Roar in September last year only for his arrival in Australia to be delayed by six weeks due to visa issues.
Then, just as he was starting to find his feet in the A- League, a hamstring injury sidelined the former Ligue 1 star for four matches.
However, Aloisi tipped Bautheac to be a major part of Brisbane’s late- season assault on the top six, which stepped up a notch with their fourth win in six games. “He was brilliant,” Aloisi said. “But he’s only going to get better and better. We’ll see the best Eric next season.” CRISTIANO Ronaldo scored his 300th La Liga goal and Gareth Bale surpassed David Beckham for the most top- flight Spanish league appearances by a British player as Real Madrid cruised to a 3- 1 win over Getafe.
Ronaldo scored his team’s second goal from a Karim Benzema assist just before half time. He added a third 12 minutes from time with a header from a Marcelo cross.
His 301 goals have come in 286 games. Lionel Messi is the only other player to have scored 300 or more, scoring 317 in 299 matches.
Real Madrid’s first goal came from Gareth Bale who scored with a left- foot shot inside the area after a Madrid corner had been knocked down by Isco.
Bale went past Beckham as the British player with the most appearances in La Liga.
Last year, Bale overtook former Barcelona forward Gary Lineker as the British forward with the most goals in La Liga and he has now surpassed former England captain Beckham who played for Real between 2003 and 2007. MELBOURNE is on track to play host to two A- League finals in the one weekend for the first time.
Melbourne Victory’s 2- 1 derby win over Melbourne City on Friday night helped consolidate its hold on a top- four spot, a grip that tightened further on Saturday when fifthplaced Adelaide lost to Brisbane.
City is third on 33 points, one ahead of Victory, who is three points clear of the chasing pack. But both teams have inviting runs home, with Victory in particular helped by a draw that sees them play teams below it for the next four weeks.
Home games for City against Western Sydney and Central Coast are must- win, while a trip to also- ran Wellington in the final round is another big opportunity.
The third and fourth- place finishers receive home elimination finals in week one of the playoffs, before travelling for the semi- finals in week two.
But the other subplot to the final five weeks of the season is the race for Asia, with a third- placed finish likely to secure that team entry into the 2019 Asian Champions League playoffs.
And City is hellbent on making it to the Champions League for the first time.
City has lived in the shadows of Victory since joining the A- League in 2010, finishing above their arch rivals just twice.