Roar go clear on top
11/14/2010 08:03:19 AM
Brisbane Roar have extended their unbeaten run to 10 matches by recording a come-from-behind win against Melbourne Heart at AAMI Park on Sunday.
The hosts were by far the better team in a first half of flowing football before a crowd of 7034 and deservedly went ahead inside the first dozen minutes through Gerald Sibon but they were inches away from a second through Rutger Worm whose header was kept out by the post.
And having survived on just 44 percent of possession before the break the Roar turned the tables in the second half to firstly draw level in the 65th minute through Kosta Barbarouses' sixth goal of the season before Jean Carlos Solorzano snatched all three points in the 88th minute.
Second-half substitute Peter Franjic, who had seen his 72nd-minute penalty attempt saved by Clint Bolton, struck the woodwork after being set up by Mitch Nichols but the rebound fell straight into the path of Solorzano who had the easiest of tap-ins.
The Roar's ninth win of the season was their seventh since their only defeat to Victory at the same venue in mid-September and stretches their lead at the top of the table to four points from Adelaide United.
The Heart meanwhile remain fifth but weren't overtaken later on Sunday by cross-town rivals the Victory - who were beaten by the Glory in Perth - with John van 't Schip's team having suffered its first defeat since their 4-0 thrashing from the Roar at Suncorp Stadium in late September.
Melbourne Heart 1 (Sibon 11)
Brisbane Roar 2 (Barbarouses 65, Solorzano 88)