Melbourne Victory were unable to find the crucial goal in a hard-fought 0-0 draw with Brisbane Roar on Saturday afternoon.
Summary
Tony Popovic opted for an attacking line-up in the absence of captain Josh Brillante, with Ben Folami returning to the XI whilst Nani took up a more central position in midfield.
Victory looked dangerous early on, with their wealth of attacking talent proving difficult to contain.
Jake Brimmer benefitted from the extra space afforded to him deeper in midfield, whilst Chris Ikonomidis was regularly threatening with runs down the right wing.
Victory dominated the territory and created the vast majority of chances but struggled to find the breakthrough against a resilient Roar defence.
Half-time arrived with the scores still locked at 0-0.
The game remained an even affair early in the second half.
However, the first major talking point arose 10 minutes into the second half when Brisbane goalkeeper Jordan Holmes was sent off for a foul on Nick D’Agostino.
The red card decision came following a VAR consultation, setting up Victory to pile the pressure on the home side for the remainder of the match.
Victory’s best chances came following the red card, most notably a strong header from Nani which was well saved by substitute goalkeeper Macklin Freke.
Brimmer also came agonisingly close with a curling effort from range, but it went just wide of the post.
Ultimately, Brisbane’s desperate defending was enough to hold onto a point, denying Victory a second win of the season.
What they said – Jake Brimmer
“Unfortunately we didn’t get the result we wanted. I thought we were the better team the whole game but we just lacked the goal today.”
“That’s the most frustrating thing when you play a good game of football, you dominate the game, but you don’t come away with the three points.”
Implications
Victory move to four points from four games and will be desperate to return to the winners’ list in their final two games before the World Cup break.
Result
Isuzu UTE A-League 2022/23 Round 4
Brisbane Roar 0
Melbourne Victory 0
Next up
Victory return to AAMI Park for Friday night football against the Newcastle Jets on 4th November at 7:45pm AEDT.
