Defeat in Brisbane as Victory suffers a 3-2 defeat to the Roar at Suncorp.
There was nothing to separate the two sides through the opening 20 minutes of the match, with Daniel Arzani’s saved shot from outside of the area within 10 minutes the closest anyone came.
In the 23rd minute, former Victory star Marco Rojas found the back of the net for Brisbane, breaking the deadlock.
After Roar’s Waddingham was denied by Paul Izzo, Rojas pounced on the rebound to to head the opener.
In what it becoming a bit of a trademark, Zinedine Machach levelled the scores in the 35th minute after a barnstorming run ended in him beating Roar shot-stopper Freke at his near post.
Marco Rojas struck again at the hour mark, once again giving Brisbane the lead.
Brisbane’s Keegan Jelacic picked out Rojas at the back post and the New Zealand international’s diving header found the back of the net.
Hopes of a comeback were all but dashed 20 minutes to the end when Waddingham tapped home Brisbane’s third of the night.
Roly Bonevacia made his Victory debut off the bench and managed to pull a goal back with minutes of regulation remaining.
It was too little, too late for our boys in blue with the full-time whistle blowing shortly after.
Focus now shifts to an important Saturday night clash against Adelaide in our final Original Rivalry of the season.
Tony Popovic’s Post-Match Comments:
On the performance…
“Difficult conditions, of course, playing here.”
“We conceded the early goal, and we came back, which was good. But I think today was a poor defensive game for us. We normally don’t give the opposition easy chances and easy goals. And today we gave away three soft goals. And it’s hard to come back away from home when you concede three.”
“It was a soft first goal we gave away, we actually had a chance of scoring and then we got caught in transition, we didn’t defend the action well and got punished. And then it was the same with a third goal.”
“The boys kept going until the end. But you know, when you concede three goals, it’s always hard to get a result.”
On Roly Bonevacia…
“It’s been difficult for him with the lack of football that he’s had. You can see the talent he has, he had two or three really good attempts. And then he scored a wonderful goal.”
“We’re very fortunate to have him. Unfortunately, we got him here in a physical condition that wasn’t great. Not his fault, he just hadn’t played football for a while. But you know, we saw good signs today. And hopefully, he’ll keep building on that.”
On what needs to improve…
“We played a lot of good games early in the year but in the last month, we haven’t probably created as much as we’d like.”
“And then today, we didn’t defend well. We’ve got to get back to making it hard for the opposition, which we had been doing and we certainly have a squad that has the ability.”
“We go into a big rivalry now in Adelaide. Those games are always special, and I don’t believe any motivation will be a problem. But, you know, we’ve got to get back to that aggression and that intensity that we had and bring that next week.”
Next Match:
Adelaide United v Melbourne Victory
Date: Sat 9 Mar
Time: 7:45pm
Location: Coopers Stadium
Broadcast: 10 Bold & Paramount+
