Melbourne City stormed out of the blocks with a two-goal burst before the 10-minute mark to subject Brisbane Roar to yet another Hyundai A-League loss.
David Williams and Mate Dugandzic hit the early goals which stunned Brisbane, before a second-half fightback saw Brandon Borello find the net for the hosts.
City killed off the game in the 83rd minute, however, thanks to a Marc Marino goal.
What they said
– “It’s a fantastic team effort today, all the boys worked really hard. The Roar threw everything at us in the last little bit so it was great to get that final goal and really shore things up.” – Melbourne City FC’s Andrew Redmayne
– “Not at all, it’s a short season so you’ve got to get off to a good start. We played good in patches, knocked the ball around but credit to them they came with a game plan and it worked.” – Brisbane Roar’s Luke Brattan
Goals
Williams (8’) – A mix up in the Roar defence enabled Dugandzic to latch on to the ball in the box and square it for Williams, who had no trouble slotting it home for the opener.
Dugandzic (10’) – A through ball from Brisbane old boy Erik Paartalu exposed a huge gap on the right side of the home team’s defence, and Dugandzic did his part with a deadly finish under Jamie Young, who perhaps could have done better.
Borello (67’) – This was one of the weirder goals you’ll see for a while. Matt McKay teed off from outside the area and his shot smacked into the head of Borello – who appeared to know little about it – and past a prone Andrew Redmaybe into the back of the net.
Marino (83’) – Just as the Roar appeared to be about to pull off one of their famous comebacks, substitute Marc Marino finished off a perfect counter attack with a poke past Young to seal the win for City.
Opta Data Key Stats
The possession stats once again fell heavily in favour of the home side, which only proves how pointless it is to hang on to the ball for long periods if you don’t have players who can put it in the back of the net.
Brisbane may have had 62.1 percent of possession, but they lacked the potency up front to take advantage of it.
The Final Word
If the ‘we’re not panicking’ mantra started to sound a little strained after three straight losses, when you’re four defeats down it no longer holds any kind of weight.
Brisbane became the first side in A-League history to sit on zero points after four rounds, and the prospect of another title win in 2014-15 is already starting to look faint.
City, meanwhile, canlook forward to two straight home games in which to gather more points.
Match Details
Hyundai A-League Round 5
Saturday, 8 November 2014
Brisbane Roar 1 (Brando BORELLO 67′)
Melbourne City FC 3 (David WILLIAMS 9′, Mate DUGANDZIC 10′, Marc MARINO 83′)
Venue: Suncorp Stadium
Referee: Kris Griffiths-Jones
Attendance: 17, 131
Brisbane Roar: Young (GK), Smith (c), Stefanutto, Lustica (Kurtishi 80), Henrique, North, McKay, Brattan, Hingert (Donachie 45), Broich, Petratos (Borrello 45).
Melbourne City FC: Redmayne (GK), Wielaert, Paartalu, Mooy, Ramsay, Duff, Williams (Marino 75), Hoffman, Retre (Melling 58), Dugandzic (Brown 69), Kisnorbo (C).
Yellow cards: Retre 20, Melling 66
