A-League: Brisbane Roar extend winning streak to four games in thrashing of Melbourne Victory

Brisbane Roar are riding high after four straight wins, while Melbourne Victory’s ordinary season continues.

Jesse Daley (left) and Jay O'Shea celebrate Brisbane Roar’s thrashing of Melbourne Victory. Picture: Albert Perez/Getty Images

Brisbane coach Warren Moon vowed his side’s overflowing confidence would not turn into arrogance after the Roar stretched their winning run to four matches with a 5-2 thrashing of a poor Melbourne Victory at Dolphin Stadium on Saturday.

It was a scoreline that flattered the ordinary visitors, with the game as good as over after just 17 minutes when the Roar led 3-0 thanks to goals from the in-form Dylan Wenzel-Halls, former Socceroos marksman Scott McDonald and Japanese midfielder Riku Danzaki.

McDonald’s second of the half ensured Brisbane had scored four or more goals in the first half of a match for the first time since they netted five in the opening stanza of their 7-1 thrashing of Adelaide United at Suncorp Stadium in October 2011.

That was during the club’s halcyon days when they won three championships in four seasons.

While Moon rightly suggested it was too early to suggest another title was coming the Roar’s way this year, his team is certainly making all the right moves in an impressive start to the season.

Scott McDonald (77) is congratulated by his Roar teammates after scoring a goal at Dolphin Stadium. Picture: Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images

“Confidence is everything in football,” Moon said.

“We’ve got 11 confident players starting the game at the moment, and we’ve got three of four coming on ... it (confidence) is everywhere at the moment.”

However, Moon vowed his side – back on top of the ladder at least until Sunday night – would not become complacent and instead focus on extending their winning streak to five matches when they hosted Macarthur FC at Dolphin Stadium on Tuesday night.

“We’re in a good place right now, but we’re not getting too carried away. We’ll go on to the next game, as boring as it sounds,” he said.

In contrast to the good mood of Moon, angry Victory coach Grant Brebner promised to wield the selection axe after his side’s woeful display.

Brebner said there were no excuses for the performance, including the stifling heat and humidity, and vowed to make changes to his side for Wednesday night’s clash against Western Sydney Wanderers at Bankwest Stadium.

Melbourne Victory’s Robbie Kruse could not get the better of Brisbane Roar. Picture: Albert Perez/Getty Images

“There’ll definitely be changes for Wednesday night,” Brebner said.

“We’re a professional football club, we are professional footballers, and we have a responsibility ... I don’t like losing but I can handle losing if there’s a manner in which we go about it.

“Today, I’m not making any excuses for it. It was unacceptable, and the players will know that.

“The ones that are fortunate enough to play on Wednesday night will have to show us how much they want to keep the shirt, and the ones that aren’t shouldn’t have any complaints.”

The Roar were superb in the opening exchanges, taking advantage of a slow Victory defence and some poor goalkeeping from Max Crocombe to put the result beyond doubt before the visitors finally woke up.

Wenzel-Halls has now scored five goals in his past four matches, while McDonald’s brace was matched by a double from Danzaki.

Victory youngster Luis Lawrie-Lattanzio scored his first A-League goal, while Jake Brimmer also netted for the visitors, but it was little consolation for Brebner’s well-beaten men.

Originally published as A-League: Brisbane Roar extend winning streak to four games in thrashing of Melbourne Victory