Brisbane Roar proved stubborn opponents as both sides played out a scoreless draw at Suncorp Stadium.
Summary
Sydney FC 0 drew w. Brisbane Roar 0
Sydney FC remain undefeated away from home as they were held by a stubborn Brisbane Roar outfit in stifling conditions at Suncorp Stadium on Tuesday night.
The Sky Blues pressed the home side early on forcing a number of turnovers as they spent a lot of time in the Roar half to no avail.
Bernie Ibini flashed a volley just wide of goal before Alex Brosque saw a flicked header tipped over by Jamie Young’s finger tips in the best two chances for the away side as Dimitri Petratos saw two efforts smothered in goals by Vedran Janjetovic at the other end.
The second half saw possession exchanged numerous times with both teams struggling to hold onto the ball on a rough pitch as Christopher Naumoff and Jean Carlos Solorzano went closest in the second period.
Both sides were forced to ultimately settle for a point with Sydney FC, still sitting in fifth, looking ahead to Saturday’s clash against the Newcastle Jets at WIN Stadium, Wollongong.
What they said
Graham Arnold: “You have to be happy with the nil nil. I think the same players are backing up every week and with the short turn around all teams are having again you’d have to be happy with the point.
“It was roasting. I think it was 35 or 36 degrees here all day with high humidity, it was very warm and the boys ran out of legs a little bit, it was the same for both teams and there can’t be any excuses. Everyone knows we’ve had a terrible run with injuries but we have to get on with it and work hard. We’re sitting on 18 points, we’re in the top six and I do believe we will have a better second half of the season.
“We had a couple of good video sessions this week and the defence was much better tonight, there was more intensity to win the ball back, we weren’t letting players turn and face us and we knew Brisbane would give us a good test.”
Key Moments
11’ SMELTZ EFFORT – A set piece routine off a corner sees Milos Dimitrijevic deliver a driven cross towards Shane Smeltz. The New Zealand international attempts to volley first time from outside the area but he miss times the effort and the danger is cleared.
24’ IBINI VOLLEYS WIDE – Peter Triantis wins an aerial duel with the ball falling to Bernie Ibini some distance out. The Socceroos fires a fierce first time volley goal-bound and it flashes just wide of the far post with Jamie Young stranded.
33’ BROSQUE HEADER SAVED – Some neat passing in the right channel ends with Milos Dimitrijevic curling an excellent ball into the Brisbane Roar area. The balls drifts to Alex Brosque at the far post whose flicked header is just tipped over the bar by Young in goals.
45’ JANJETOVIC SAVES – A great first touch from Petratos creates space for the striker in the area. He fires at goal from point blank range but Vedran Janjetovic is quick off his line to close the angle and smother the shot.
50’ BRATTAN ATTEMPT – Luke Brattan has the opening shot of the second half as he tries to curl one in from the edge of the box, however his shot sits up in the air and Vedran Janjetovic is able to comfortably claim the ball.
64’ NAUMOFF HEADS WIDE – In the second phase of a corner kick, a curled cross is flicked on by Bernie Ibini into the path of an onrushing Christopher Naumoff. The youngster gets his head to the ball but is unable to divert it into the net as it flies wide of the post.
78’ SOLORZANO THWARTED – A deft flick over the top of the Sky Blues defence just outside the area release Solorzano one on one with Janjetovic. The striker lets the ball bounce and Janjetovic is able to spread himself well to smother the loose ball.
Team News
Sydney FC 0 drew w. Brisbane Roar 0
Sydney FC Head Coach Graham Arnold was forced into change with Terry Antonis ruled out of the squad, away on Socceroos duty, and Marc Janko resigned to the bench with a hip complaint. Aaron Calver made his first start of the season at right back as Rhyan Grant was thrust into a midfield role alongside Peter Triantis, also making his first start, with Shane Smeltz occupying the lone striker role. Youth product George Timotheou made his first foray into the Hyundai A-League with a place on the bench.
Ground: Suncorp Stadium
Referee: Chris Beath
Sydney FC: 20. Vedran JANJETOVIC, 2. Seb RYALL, 6. Nikola PETKOVIC, 8. Milos DIMITRIJEVIC, 9.Shane SMELTZ (60’ Marc JANKO), 11. Bernie IBINI, 14. Alex BROSQUE, 16. Alex GERSBACH, 18. Peter TRIANTIS (81’ Hagi GLIGOR), 23. Rhyan GRANT (60’ Christopher NAUMOFF), 25. Aaron CALVER.
Subs Not Used: 1. Ivan NECEVSKI, 24. George TIMOTHEOU.
Yellow cards: 14’ GRANT, 71’ TRIANTIS
Red cards: None.
Brisbane Roar: 21. Jamie YOUNG, 4. Adam SAROTA (90+1’ Shane STEFANUTTO), 5. Corey BROWN, 8. Steven LUSTICA, 10. HENRIQUE, 12. Jean Carlos SOLORZANO, 13. Jade NORTH, 14. Daniel BOWLES, 15. James DONACHIE, 18. Luke BRATTAN (75’ Brandon BORRELLO), 23. Dimitri PETRATOS.
Subs Not Used: 30. Matthew ACTON, 16. Devante CLUT, 20. Kofi DANNING.
Yellow cards: 83’ BROWN
Red cards: None.
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