Tepid Friday Night Three Points In Brisbane

[mack]

The Wanderers won a tale of two teams struggling to make an impact on the season as Bozhidar Kraev scored the only goal of the game to take all three points in a hard to watch slogfest on a dog of a surface in Brisbane.

Brisbane Roar were looking for their first home win in 334 days and the Wanderers wanted their first win against the Roar since 2021 as well as their first away win against them in 6 years. Jack Clisby's 250th A-League appearance last weekend wasn't added to due to an injury and with Aiden Simmons not travelling either it was Gabriel Cleur returning from a month long injury absence on one side with Anthony Pantazopoulos on the other.

Cleur created a corner with some neat work on the right flank and Juan Mata delivered a glorious corner that gave Kraev his goal on a silver platter. The big Bulgarian found open space on the edge of the 6 yard box, Lucas Herrington came flying in to head it away but he was a head too short to make contact and Kraev made no mistake to head it down and to the right of Macklin Freke to make it 1-0 in the 7th minute.

Juan Mata came off injured shortly after his assist with a hamstring injury. He was chasing down a ball and broke down, knowing immediately something had gone wrong. He came straight off and was replaced by Mo Al-Taay.

Brisbane had their first chance after 20 minutes. Alex King decided that a ball coming off the chest of a Wanderers player was a handball, and the Roar nearly turned the set piece into an equaliser. Luckily the scrambling defence did enough to stop a clear shot on goal and Lawrence Thomas went down well to smother the ball at the feet of Herrington. John O'Shea flashed a shot wide of the goal in the 27th. It was the most clear cut chance his team had by that point.

The Roar continued to press and 10 minutes from time they had a great chance to equalise through Adam Zimarino. Open space on the right flank allowed the Roar to find Zimarino with room to shoot, his first touch took him slightly wide and it was enough of a delay to allow Alex Bonetig to sprint across in cover defence and make a diving block to keep the damage to a corner that the Roar wasted.

A pair of near disasters in defence for the Roar were lucky not to be punished with goals. The first was a suicidal sideways pass from the defensive wing into their own penalty area, Borrello was lurking, took the ball off Herrington and scored only for a foul to be awarded for a shirt pull from Borrello. Freke nearly spilled the ball into his own net seconds later, not jumping high enough to block Zac Sapsford's cross and it went through his hands but not over the line before the keeper grabbed it at the second attempt. Roar prevented the Wanderers going two ahead after more calamitous attempts at playing out, last ditch defending blocking Sapsford from his 5th A-League goal of the season. The two teams headed into the break with the score as it had been from the 7th minute, the Wanderers clearly the dominant side but as usual, lacking the attacking thrust to convert their chances into an even bigger lead.

Both sides made changes at the resumption. For the Wanderers, Jarrod Carluccio and Marcus Antonsson replaced Cleur and Borrello respectively. Brisbane replaced Louis Zabala with Corey Brown in defence. Brown received the first yellow card of the half on the hour mark, dragging down Nicolas Milanovic blatantly in frustration at the linesman correctly judging the ball to have stayed in play on the sideline.

Pantazopoulos took a shot on his right foot after cutting back inside, he missed wide right but it would probably have been ruled out by VAR for a potential handball if it had. Roar took off Keegan Jelacic & Zimarino to introduce Florin Berenguer and Jacob Brazete for the final 20 minutes. Brisbane had a lifeline after a missed offside in the build up to what seemed to be a match sealing goal to Milanovic, with Sapsford drifting offside when he received the ball from Priestman who perhaps took some of the blame for holding onto the ball too long, Sapsford's cut back inside was met by a first time Milanovic shot he put away easily. Thomas had little to do so far but he pulled out a brilliant diving save to keep his team in front shortly after the disallowed goal.

Scott Neville entered the pitch for his 300th and final A-League appearance. During his 17 year A-League career he played for the Wanderers in two seasons, playing 51 games in the Red & Black including scoring the only goal for the team in the 2015/16 losing Grand Final effort against Adelaide. Zac Sapsford also made way with James Temelkovski coming on. Walid Shour was the last roll of the dice for the Roar and he replaced Sam Klein. The unusual situation of a substitute himself being substituted occurred in the 2nd last minute of regulation time. Mo Al-Taay having entered the game in the 10th minute existed it in the 88th, with Dean Pelekanos introduced in his place.

4 minutes of stoppage time ticked down slowly, the Roar having a long shot at goal that grazed the crossbar. It was the final chance of the match, the Roar failing to get a sight of goal in the final seconds. The match as a whole summed up with the Roar dribbling and passing it around their backline on halfway in the final seconds despite being behind. They failed to attempt a last long ball attack and Alex King had no choice but to call full time on the game and Scott Neville's professional career.

It was a tepid and uninspiring slog played on an awful surface, one that looks to have claimed an injury to Juan Mata as the Wanderers head into a derby. Sydney FC will not be fearing their visitors at all next Saturday and despite the win tonight, if the Wanderers come out with that same lack of intensity they will get punished unlike tonight. 

The Wanderers next match is against Sydney FC at Moore Park on Saturday the 8th of February with kick-off at 7:35pm.

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[pseudonym]

 

[immortalshogun]

that was definitely a game

[nmh94]

I told you - Kim Wilde had it nailed on:

https://youtu.be/xJZF-skCY-M?feature=shared

Edited January 31 by nmh94

[WHACKO]

12 minutes ago, immortalshogun said:

that was definitely a game

Off what...crap

Then yes it was.

[Bangaverage]

I still wonder why we bought Carluccio and Al Taay. Simmons not even travelling? Makes no sense to me! 
 

Cleur was only ever playing 45, Panta has been horrible! We are just lucky we played against a div 3 side 

[William]

 

A game that had to have a result and wanderers did it with reasonably solid defence a worse than normal Suncorp pitch and aweful humidity which never lends itself self to a good spectacle. 

injuries continue to be a worry Mata was good for the 15 or so minutes he was on but probably gone for atleast 6  weeks with a hamy. Borello looked of the pace tonight so hope is ok.

Good win !!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[nmh94]

2 goals in 3 games is a worry ... I get defence needed the fix but that only matters if we maintain  what was our strength. 

[StringerBellend]

Is that a typo 334 games at home without a win? 

[Sithslayer1991]

The clean sheet is cleaner them my own bed sheets after putting them through washing machine.

[Wanderboy]

Yes, we got the 3 points but geez watching that game was a punish.

90 (+5) mins of my life I'll never get back again.

[William]

Our attack certainly looked subdued tonight we certainly did not press high and Borello did not track back at all

[Edinburgh]

2 minutes ago, StringerBellend said:

Is that a typo 334 games at home without a win? 

334 days

[StringerBellend]

1 minute ago, Edinburgh said:

334 days

I thought it seemed like a lot 

[StringerBellend]

3 minutes ago, William said:

Our attack certainly looked subdued tonight we certainly did not press high and Borello did not track back at all

Milanovic either in the second half wasn't exactly pushing. To be fair it was humid and 28 degrees so hard to play at pace.

Sapsford was ace 

[FootballRelic]

Positive number 1 = We Won. Positive number 2 = We kept a clean sheet and didn't concede ant stupid goals. Got to accept the shite wins with the shite loses I suppose

[immortalshogun]

I thought Bonetig played pretty well tonight - cant help but wonder how fast he would develop with an experienced partner in defence

[Sithslayer1991]

2 minutes ago, immortalshogun said:

I thought Bonetig played pretty well tonight - cant help but wonder how fast he would develop with an experienced partner in defence

He stepped up again. Massive block he did in the 1st half.

Agree imagine the player he would be if he had an experienced defender next to him.

[Zelinsky]

Man, some of you people are hard to please. When teams have scrappy wins against us in Parramatta then everyone and everything is being criticised. Then we have a scrappy away win, and what happens? FMD. 

[sonar]

Just now, Zelinsky said:

Man, some of you people are hard to please. When teams have scrappy wins against us in Parramatta then everyone and everything is being criticised. Then we have a scrappy away win, and what happens? FMD. 

As I said, I don't care about how we played......we won......take the points and move on.

[William]

Just now, Zelinsky said:

Man, some of you people are hard to please. When teams have scrappy wins against us in Parramatta then everyone and everything is being criticised. Then we have a scrappy away win, and what happens? FMD. 

Careful Zelinsky  you will get into trouble 

[StringerBellend]

7 hours ago, sonar said:

As I said, I don't care about how we played......we won......take the points and move on.

Totally this.

It's an away win and a clean sheet. 

I'm happy, it's a nice start to the weekend 

Sure it was a poor game of footy but to be fair the pitch was dreadful and it's was stupidly hot and humid. 

[Hughesy]

7 hours ago, Zelinsky said:

Man, some of you people are hard to please. When teams have scrappy wins against us in Parramatta then everyone and everything is being criticised. Then we have a scrappy away win, and what happens? FMD. 

Agree - you can only play what’s in front of you and they don’t award extra points for style. Didn’t concede a goal either which is rare so that’s an added bonus. 

Watching Roar games at Suncorp is a ******* punish in general nowadays so I can only imagine how dire it must be playing there with 300% humidity… 

[Zelinsky]

2 hours ago, Hughesy said:

Watching Roar games at Suncorp is a ******* punish in general nowadays so I can only imagine how dire it must be playing there with 300% humidity… 

The humidity! I remember being up there with the RBB in S5 (the game where Clisby and Snake gifted the Roar two goals for a win). After 45 minutes of active support I was spent, and had to sit out the second half like a granddad. I was amazed how anyone can do much (or any) running in such conditions. 

[Smoggy]

29 minutes ago, Zelinsky said:

The humidity! I remember being up there with the RBB in S5 (the game where Clisby and Snake gifted the Roar two goals for a win). After 45 minutes of active support I was spent, and had to sit out the second half like a granddad. I was amazed how anyone can do much (or any) running in such conditions. 

I run 14k in plus 35c conditions and days with high humidity. They say its like altitude training with how it works the body....you do adjust...but have to know the warnings signs. I stopped half way a few weeks back when thought I was overheating. So it's just regular exposure and building up...

But back to the game...yeah...it's was a punishment to watch but I concur with the general opinion that 3 points is what we needed however it was achieved.

Hope Mata isn't gone for the season. If gone for 4 to 6 weeks that still match fitness after the injury he needs to get back.

Edited January 31 by Smoggy

[BoyFromTheWest]

Thought Mata was an obvious difference before he went off. We lost him and the midfield struggled - he held things together. Not sure if he would have sustained that through the whole game. Scicluna is a huge loss.

Also missed Cleur and Borello in 2nd half.

[StringerBellend]

3 hours ago, BoyFromTheWest said:

Thought Mata was an obvious difference before he went off. We lost him and the midfield struggled - he held things together. Not sure if he would have sustained that through the whole game. Scicluna is a huge loss.

Also missed Cleur and Borello in 2nd half.

Yep same last week when he went off we have nothing in the middle of the park.

Sciluna, Amazing how a young guy in his second season has become so key. 

[andypk]

That pitch was atrocious. Barcelona would have struggled to string half a dozen passes together. The ball bobbled everywhere and to come away with 3 points was a great effort. We weren’t great but the desire was there.

It wouldn’t surprise me if the pitch played some part in Mata, Borrello and Cleur all leaving the game early.

Panta is not the most technical, quickest or fittest players by any stretch of the imagination, but he is a trooper and someone you want with you in the trenches. He wins crucial headers and disrupts the oppositions rhythm, time and time again.  We don’t have too many players with that characteristic, so I think he’s turning into an important player for us.

Sapsford was a bundle of energy again. He had a bit more time on the ball this week and used it well I thought.

Brisbane got a lift when Mata went off. He was killing it again and as always, played a lot of forward passes. He seems to have more time on the ball than other player.

I don’t remember the Den chanting/supporting their own team. It seemed to be all about us. 

A good turnout of Wanderers fans for an interstate game on a Friday night. A least a few hundred turned up.

Great to come away with 3 points and let’s not dwell too much on the performance. We got what we came for.

[Sithslayer1991]

1 hour ago, StringerBellend said:

Yep same last week when he went off we have nothing in the middle of the park.

Sciluna, Amazing how a young guy in his second season has become so key. 

100%. From what I seen from Al Taay he has a good engine. But in terms of receiving the ball and moving forward its just not the same as Scicluna. Al Taay is box-to-box but defensive screening. On the ball its not so much moving forward. 

Priestmann continues to echo Baccus to me. He does his defensive duties, and he will try to move us forward but its not really what he is best at. More often or not will lose the ball with his passes forward than Scicluna. 

So Mata is now integral to that midfield. We don't have anyone else he will move us forward quickly

[Edinburgh]

15 hours ago, Sithslayer1991 said:

He stepped up again. Massive block he did in the 1st half.

Agree imagine the player he would be if he had an experienced defender next to him.

During his post match interview for player of the match the panel mentioned how good the block was followed by the standard "talk us through it" question. His response was effectively "if I'd defended better in the first place I wouldn't have needed to block the shot, so I need to improve there". Hat's off to him for that attitude.