Sydney’s only good news is that the talismanic Alessandro Del Piero will be back for a second season with the Sky Blues
Brisbane Roar put Sydney FC to the sword on Thursday night as the last round of the regular season opened with a bang. Both teams were fighting for a finals spot, but Brisbane outclassed Sydney 3-1 in an entertaining affair at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane.
Sydney started the game by giving away possession quite cheaply during the early stages of the first half. It wasn’t long before they had a good spell of pressure though, forcing Brisbane to drop back defensively.
It was an even tussle for the majority of the first half with both sides looking dangerous in attack. However, the 29th minute saw an absent minded pass by Alessandro Del Piero which was picked up by the Roar. The ball was crossed into the centre to find an unmarked Besart Berisha who made no mistake and gave Brisbane a 1-0 lead.
Just before half time, a brilliant move by Sydney FC cheque mated Brisbane’s defence to see them in scoring position. However, a controversial off-side call halted the Sydney attack from scoring what seemed to be a certain equaliser.
It was only 6 minutes into the second half before another poor defensive play cost Sydney another goal. A loose pass by Sebastian Ryall was picked up by Brisbane on the right which found its way to Steven Lustica who finished to make it 2-0.
Some resilient defending by Brisbane kept a relentless Sydney FC attack scoreless for most of the second half; Jade North was particularly outstanding.
Then in the 79th minute, a rare attack by Brisbane saw Ivan Franjic curl his shot into the top corner to give Brisbane a 3-0 lead.
Sydney managed to get a consolation goal 5 minutes later when a foul on Joel Griffiths saw Del Piero step to score from the penalty spot. But it was too little too late for the Sky Blues who let their final series destiny slip out of their grasp, whereas Brisbane live to fight another day and defend their title.
Brisbane Roar 3 (Besart Berisha 29′, Steven Lustica 51′, Ivan Franjic 79′)
Sydney FC 1 (Alessandro Del Piero 84′)
Man of the match: Jade North
Crowd: 19,010
