Melbourne Victory’s final game of the season ended in defeat, beaten 1-0 by Brisbane Roar on Saturday night.
SUMMARY
A mild evening set the scene at AAMI Park, as Victory aimed for a second straight win to finish their campaign on a high.
Jordi Valadon started a senior game for the first time since joining the club, whilst Roderick Miranda made his return to the heart of defence.
The contest was an even affair to begin, with the majority of chances coming from set pieces at either end.
Victory created the first major opportunity of the game after 20 minutes, when a wonderful combination involving Bruno Fornaroli and Fernando Romero resulted in a guilt-edge chance falling to Nishan Velupillay, who was unable to steer his shot past the goalkeeper.
Valadon almost marked his starting debut with a goal 10 minutes later, but again the attempt was kept out, this time owing to the tight angle from which the shot was taken.
A pair of speculative efforts from Kadete and Fornaroli closed out the half, as the sides headed into the sheds with the deadlock still unbroken.
Despite Victory’s strong first half, the visitors struck the first major blow early in the second 45.
Jordan Courtney-Perkins fired Brisbane into the lead in the 54th minute, finishing off an excellent run from Henry Hore with a powerful strike.
Tony Popovic turned to his bench in response, with Chris Ikonomidis, Rai Marchan, Josh Brillante and Lleyton Brooks all introduced around the hour mark.
Chances though became increasingly difficult to come by as Brisbane focused on preserving their advantage.
Victory came agonisingly close to securing a point several times in the final minutes of the game, with substitutes Bruce Kamau and Josh Brillante, as well as Fornaroli, each firing attempts which flew narrowly wide of the post.
Ultimately though there was no way back for home side, as they fell to defeat in their final game of the season.
RESULT
Isuzu UTE A-League 2022/23 Round 26
Melbourne Victory 0
Brisbane Roar 1 (Courtney-Perkins 54′)
