A-League: Brisbane win 4-3 over Sydney FC, Auckland beat Melbourne City 3-0
The Brisbane Roar have produced one of the upsets of the season, surviving a late comeback from Sydney FC to snap a 15-game winless streak. See the latest A-League news.
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There are upsets and then there was this result!
On Saturday evening, the Brisbane Roar broke a 15-game winless streak with a dramatic 4-3 victory over Sydney FC at Allianz Stadium.
Sydney coach Ufuk Talay was livid, shouting and gesticulating as he paced around his technical area across the 90 minutes - and you couldn’t blame him for getting emotional. Coming into this match, his side was undefeated in six games and was aiming to grab second spot on the A-League Men’s ladder.
The Roar, on the other hand, hadn’t tasted a league victory in over eight months and were rooted to the bottom of the table.
“I thought our game plan in the first half was excellent,” Brisbane captain Jay O’Shea told Paramount Plus after the game.
“We got ourselves a couple of goals up and we probably should have won the game a bit more convincingly.
“It was a bit of a ‘squeaky-bum time’ at the end for us . . . but we’re delighted to get the win. We needed to get that big-time.”
Playing their fifth game in 14 days, Sydney looked lethargic and struggled to keep up with the enthusiastic visitors who led 4-1 at one stage after goals to Ben Halloran, Henry Hoare, Adam Zimarino and Lucas Harrington.
To their credit, Sydney did push hard during the dying stages and went within a whisker of snatching an unlikely draw after replacements Tiago Quintal and Jordan Courtney-Perkins scored back-to-back goals in the final five minutes of regulation time.
Brisbane roared into action early, opening the scoring after 16 minutes when goalkeeper Macklin Freke’s long ball allowed Halloran to chip Harrison Devenish-Meares. This lead was doubled five minutes later, when lazy defending from the Sky Blues allowed Halloran to set up Hore.
After being thoroughly outplayed in the opening stages, Sydney struck back on the half-hour mark when Joel King pushed Joe Lolley’s curling cross past Freke.
Brisbane reasserted their dominance with additional goals to Zimarino (41st minute) and 17-year-old Herrington (71st minute) either side of half-time. However, Quintal and Courtney-Perkins set up a nail-biting finish with late strikes in the 84th and 87th minutes respectively.
ADRIAN’S FALL
Seven days earlier, Adrian Segecic was the toast of the town after coming off the bench to score a hattrick in Sydney’s 4-1 victory over the Central Coast Mariners. On Saturday evening he was hooked by Talay at half-time after failing to make an impact in the opening stanza. Segecic wasn’t the only one to cop an unwanted early mark though. After failing to contain Halloran, King was also benched at the break.
SYDNEY TOO SWEET ON LOLLEY?
With superstar Brazilian Douglas Costa still sidelined with a long-term hamstring injury, Sydney FC have relied on Lolley to spearhead their attack – but have they become too reliant on the Englishman? While the 32-year-old winger set up both King and Courtney-Perkins’ goals, great marking from Brisbane ensured that he (and thus Sydney’s attack) was kept quiet for most of the game.
What a moment 🧡🥹 At ðŸðŸ³ ð˜†ð—²ð—®ð—¿ð˜€ ð—¼ð—¹ð—±, @brisbaneroar's Lucas Herrington scores his FIRST A-Leagues goal!
— Isuzu UTE A-League (@aleaguemen) January 18, 2025
A special milestone for the talented teenager and the Roar can almost reach out and touch their first win of the season 🙌
Watch #SYDvBRI live NOW on Paramount+ and… pic.twitter.com/eCIB7fki0Z
RUTHLESS AUCKLAND END MELBOURNE’S UNBEATEN RUN
—Marco Monteverde
Melbourne City’s unbeaten run has been ended in emphatic fashion by a ruthless Auckland FC.
Chasing a fourth successive win and an eighth consecutive game without defeat, City crashed back to earth with a 3-0 loss to the Black Knights at Go Media Stadium on Saturday.
The game was over by half-time, with Auckland having already opened up a three-goal advantage, with strikers Guillermo May and Max Mata, and defender Nando Pijnaker each finding the back of the net.
The loss knocked City off the top of the table, with Auckland rediscovering its form in front of a delighted crowd of 14,131 after a shock 1-0 loss to the struggling Perth Glory last weekend.
Auckland coach Steve Corica said his side “had to bounce back”.
“It could have been more goals, and I’m pleased with the clean sheet as well,” Corica told Sky Sport New Zealand.
“They’re a very good side. They’d been on a really good run of wins.”
After an uneventful opening half an hour, the game sprung to life when Uruguayan ace May put the hosts ahead with a sizzling 20-metre, left-footed strike that flew into the top corner of the net beyond outstretched City goalkeeper Patrick Beach.
Buoyed by May’s wonder-strike, the Black Knights then went for the jugular, doubling their lead nine minutes through another left-footed effort, this time from centre-back Nando Pijnaker, who smashed the ball into the roof of the net after the unlucky Beach had made a good save just seconds earlier to deny Chilean midfielder Felipe Gallegos.
A shell-shocked City suffered further misery in first half-stoppage time when Mata scored his first goal of the season to increase Auckland’s lead to 3-0.
The goal stood despite the ball hitting the arm of Mata from Beach’s ordinary attempt to punch a corner from Francis de Vries to safety.
Late second-half saves from Beach to deny substitutes Marlee Francois and Cameron Howieson were needed to ensure the scoreline didn’t become a total embarrassment for City.
MAT’S BACK
City’s squad included Socceroos stalwart Mathew Leckie, who was named among the substitutes in his long-awaited return from a hamstring injury.
The veteran winger – who had only made two previous A-League appearances this season, both off the bench, and hadn’t played since City’s 5-0 thrashing of Perth Glory on November 10 – entered the contest in the 76th minute as a replacement for defender Callum Talbot.
“He’s been out for quite a few months so it’s probably going to take him a couple of games coming off the bench to get him back into some sort of match rhythm, but we’re looking forward to having him back,” City coach Aurelio Vidmar said of Leckie, who came close to scoring a consolation goal with a stoppage-time header.
Welcome back, Mathew Leckie 👋💙
— Isuzu UTE A-League (@aleaguemen) January 18, 2025
The 79-cap Socceroo makes his injury return for @MelbourneCity against Auckland FC after 69 days on the sidelines.
Great to see you back out there, Lecks 🙌
Watch #AKLvMCY live and exclusive NOW on Paramount+ 📺 pic.twitter.com/ST9IJ51nit
However, while Leckie has returned, City’s extensive injury list still includes attacking weapons Marco Tilio, Yonatan Cohen, Andreas Kuen, Max Caputo and Andrew Nabbout, who is out for the season after rupturing the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee in early November.
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