A-League round 7: Brisbane Roar stun Adelaide United, Sydney FC secure win over Central Coast Mariners
Brisbane Roar has handed Adelaide United its first loss of the A-League season, with a Chris Long strike in added time proving to be the difference in a heated Sunday clash.
Brisbane Roar shocked Adelaide United when Chris Long drilled a 20m drive into the corner of the net five minutes into added time at Coopers Stadium on Sunday night.
Long’s incredible goal saw former Reds captain and current Roar coach Michael Valkanis walk away from Coopers Stadium with an astonishing victory over his old club.
Valkanis, who was booked earlier, couldn’t contain his delight and turned to the crowd in ecstasy as Roar moved into second place, a point behind leader Sydney.
Adelaide dropped to sixth place with the loss.
It was Adelaide’s first defeat of the season and the first time the Reds had dropped maximum points at home since April 5.
In a cautious first half, both sides traded tactical blows, with Roar also unafraid to get physical in a bid to unnerve the Reds.
Adelaide was favouring the right-hand side with diagonal balls, looking specifically for Dylan Pierias and Juan Muniz.
Roar keeper Dean Bouzanis’ inch-perfect distribution was the catalyst for Brisbane breaking Adelaide’s lines.
Adelaide was the first side to rock the woodwork when the clash was three minutes old, when a cluster of players attacked a corner kick.
Roar’s Michael Ruhs saw his 20m effort cannon off the upright after sneaking beneath the body of Reds keeper Josh Smits in the 42nd minute, before the first half ended with tempers fraying.
Four Roar players Dimitri Valkanis, Jay O’Shea, Michael Ruhs and Justin Vidic, were booked alongside Adelaide’s Yaya Dukuly.
Dukuly used a heel flick trick to beat the Roar defence, which delighted the crowd, but the showboating didn’t end with a deserving finish in the second half.
Long forced Smits into a spectacular save in the 76th minute as the visitors looked for a sucker punch on the counter-attack.
PRE-GAME DRAMA
Milorad Stajic was forced off the park just seconds before kick-off, which threw coach Michale Valkanis’ Roar plans into temporary chaos.
Stajic’s reported hamstring injury delayed the start before Austin Ludwik took his place in the line-up, but it didn’t count as a substitution.
Adelaide coach Airton Andrioli made three changes to the side which lost 2-1 to Wellington away 10 days ago.
Pierias returned to the starting line-up after serving a one-match ban during Adelaide’s 2-1 loss to Wellington.
Panashe Madanha was omitted from the squad, and Jonny Yull was relegated to the bench alongside Fabian Talladira.
Experienced campaigners Ryan Kitto and Spaniard Juan Muniz returned to the starting 11.
Andrioli had the luxury of having Anselmo, 36, on the bench.
The Brazilian made his debut for the Reds in the 72nd minute.
The former Italian Serie A defensive midfielder for Genoa and Palermo hadn’t played an official match since February this year.
Andrioli rolled the dice, swapping experienced campaigners, skipper Craig Goodwin, 34, Juan Muniz, 33, and Ryan Kitto, 31, for Anselmo, Joey Garuccio, 19, Ryan White, 21, and Fabian Talladira, 19, in a bid to crack the tight Roar defence.
Dukuly ended his shift in the 86th minute for Jonny Yull, 20.
Valkanis intended to make no changes to the side which beat Melbourne Victory 1-0 at home in round six until Stajic’s injury.
VALKANIS ERUPTS
After spending seven years in Europe, Valkanis’s head coaching experience with Adana Demir Spor (Turkey), Hapoel Tel Aviv (Israel), Eupen (Belgium), PEC Zwolle (Netherlands), Melbourne City, Adelaide United and assistant roles at Ajax Amsterdam (Netherlands) and the Greek national team have made him more resilient.
Roar is now mirroring his image, with Valkanis guiding the club back to the top end of the A-League after the proud club last played finals in 2021 under former boss Warren Moon.
Valkanis’s feisty nature as a player during his halcyon playing days with Adelaide hasn’t escaped him.
Sky Blues go top after come from behind win
– Steven Russo
Sydney FC have returned to the top of the A-League Men’s ladder after defeating the Central Coast Mariners 2-1 at Polytech Stadium on Saturday night.
After falling to the Wanderers last weekend, the Sky Blues needed to take all three points to leapfrog Auckland FC back into pole position. And they did just that with Víctor Campuzano’s 68th-minute header sealing a come-from-behind victory over a plucky Mariners side, who punched above their weight for the majority of the game.
Punters who travelled to Gosford were greeted by the full spectrum of summer weather. 41-degree temperatures at pitch level forced the postponement of the A-League Women’s fixture earlier in the afternoon, while this game kicked off an hour later than scheduled after a nearby lightning strike.
Despite enjoying 68% of possession during the first half, Sydney started slowly, conceding a Brad Tapp goal inside the opening 10 minutes. They were likewise fortunate not to fall two behind when an Alfie McCalmont missile cannoned off the crossbar.
The Sky Blues equalised at the half-hour mark after the interception of a Mariners throw-in allowed Piero Quispe to set up Al Hassan Toure’s fourth goal of the season, while the Mariners were again thwarted by the woodwork in the 35th minute, when Miguel Di Pizio and Christian Theoharous’ efforts both hit the crossbar in the same passage of play.
The visitors came out firing in the second half, with Quispe forcing a save from Andrew Redmayne in the 48th minute. And they were eventually awarded for their efforts when Tiago Quintal’s floated pass was headed home by Campuzano. With Sydney seemingly content to protect their lead, the Mariners rallied late and were incensed not to receive a penalty 13 minutes out from full time when Sydney defender Alex Grant made contact with Nicholas Duarte in the penalty area.
QUINTAL’S QUALITY
While Quispe was named the official player of the match, Tiago Quintal also earned plenty of plaudits. Coming in for the injured Paul Okon-Engstler, 19-year-old Quintal was absolutely superb in his first-ever A-League start. Confounding the Mariners’ defence with his precision dribbling and laying on Campuzano’s winner with a superb ball.
“It was a good experience to start my first game,” Quintal said.
“It was a bit scrappy; we probably could have made it easier for ourselves … but I’m happy to help the team and contribute.
“I’m very happy with my output.”
UFUK SEES YELLOW
If you love sideline theatrics, look no further than the Sydney FC manager. Talay was in fine form again on Saturday night, stalking the sidelines like a caged tiger and continually berating the match officials. After repeated barbs and much teeth gnashing, referee Ben Abraham lost patience and brandished a yellow card at the 49-year-old.
Teenager lifts City to much needed win over Jets
— Marco Monteverde
A first-half goal from teenage winger Kavian Rahmani was enough to secure Melbourne City its first A-League win in almost a month on Saturday in Newcastle.
While it wasn’t pretty, the champions grinded their way to a 1-0 victory over a Jets side that was left to rue a host of missed second-half opportunities.
City’s previous A-League win had come in the Melbourne derby on November 8.
And while it was far from panic stations in terms of their title defence, City was relieved to return to winning A-League form to match their recent good performances in the AFC Champions League Elite competition.
The win moved City to 12 points from seven games, while the Jets, who a week earlier had caused an upset with a 2-1 away victory over Auckland FC, remained in second last spot on the ladder following their fifth defeat of the season.
City’s Takeshi Kanamori had two good chances in the space of two minutes just before the midway point of the first half to give his team the lead, but on both occasions failed to hit the target.
However, the visitors didn’t have to wait too much longer to go ahead, with 18-year-old Rahmani scoring just his second A-League goal in the 27th minute.
Fed by Austrian playmaker Andreas Kuen, who took advantage of some tentative Jets defending, Rahmani produced a composed finish that hit the inside of the post before rolling into the back of the net.
Newcastle should have equalised three minutes into the second-half but attacking midfielder Alex Badolato blazed a shot from close-range over the crossbar.
Jets marksman Lachlan Rose then had the ball in the back of the net in the 54th minute but was correctly ruled to be off-side.
The Jets continued to create chances, and substitute Eli Adams should have done better in the 69th minute but failed to make clean contact with the ball with only City goalkeeper Patrick Beach to beat.
Beach then showed the form that earnt him a Socceroos debut with a fine fingertip save that was enough to divert a goal-bound strike from Jets defender on to the crossbar.
A minute earlier, City striker Max Caputo should have doubled his team’s lead but was denied by Newcastle gloveman James Delianov.
TOO MANY DRINKS?
While it was hot in Newcastle on Saturday, two official drinks break per half was going a bit overboard.
Play was stopped from refreshments in the 15th minute, and then again in the 30th minute.
Where the matter became farcical was that the drinks break on the half-hour mark came just three minutes after Melbourne City scored through Rahmani.
As it was a natural stoppage in play, City players took the opportunity to have a drink before having more drinks just a few minutes later.
What should have happened, if match officials were going to insist on two official drinks breaks in a half, was that the second break should have occurred after City’s goal.
Diles’ future clouded as Victory draws a blank again
Melbourne Victory has avoided a fourth successive defeat, but coach Arthur Diles’ future remains clouded as his team’s goal drought continued on Friday night.
Victory remains rooted to the bottom of the A-League ladder with just five points from seven games after a 0-0 draw with Macarthur FC at Campbelltown Stadium.
It was the Melbourne club’s fourth successive match without a goal, with Diles’ team not having scored since Spanish star Juan Mata found the back of the net in the 54th minute of his side’s 2-0 win over Perth Glory on October 31.
It’s a goal drought that has now exceeded six hours of playing time, which has heaped further pressure on embattled coach Diles.
HT | Victory's opener denied before the break âŒ
— Paramount+ Australia (@ParamountPlusAU) December 5, 2025
We head into the sheds scoreless after @gomvfc's go-ahead strike was waved away minutes before halftime
Watch #MACvMVC live on Paramount+ 📺 pic.twitter.com/krvOnS1a20
However, Diles insisted he still felt “very comfortable” in his job.
“We had enough chances to win the game … it’s building and we’ll get there,” Diles told Paramount Plus.
“What I liked tonight was we had a group of men out there who stuck together as a family, who fought from the first minute to the last, and for that I’m very proud of them.
“Yes, we didn’t score, but we didn’t concede, and that’s important. We’ll take the point and we’ll move on and look forward to next week (against Adelaide United).”
Victory thought its goal drought was over in the dying stages of the first-half on Friday night with a wonderful strike from Brazilian winger Clarismario Santos that found the bottom corner of the net.
However, after reviewing footage on the advice of the VAR, referee Alex King correctly ruled that Mata, – who was restored to the starting line-up as the replacement for suspended midfielder Denis Genreau – fouled Macarthur fullback Callum Talbot just seconds before the shot from Santos.
Victory had another chance in first-half stoppage-time, but midfielder Louis D’Arrigo’s shot hit the post.
Substitute Matthew Grimaldi, who came on for Mata, had a great chance to score for the Melbourne side in the 73rd minute but sprayed his shot well wide of the post.
Another Victory replacement, fit-again Socceroo Nishan Velupillay, added some much-needed spark to his side/s forward line, and came close to scoring in the 78th minute with an angled-shot that flew past the post.
Velupillay had another opportunity eight minutes later, but his shot was well saved by Bulls goalkeeper Filip Kurto.
That was to be Victory’s final chance in a match that also again exposed Macarthur’s goalscoring deficiencies.
The Bulls have only scored one goal in their past four A-League games, but have at least done better in front of goal in their AFC Champions League Two campaign, in which they have scored nine goals in five games.
Originally published as A-League round 7: Brisbane Roar stun Adelaide United, Sydney FC secure win over Central Coast Mariners
Reds desperate to avoid third straight defeat
