BRISBANE ROAR vs. AUCKLAND FC
Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane, Australia
Friday, January 9th, 9:35pm (NZT)
Written by Jonno Ross
After a much better performance in their 1-1 draw with Macarthur Bulls on Monday, Auckland FC’s focus turns towards their fixture on Friday night against the Brisbane Roar. A must-win for Auckland – any of the three teams below could go top of the competition if AFC slip up. A win, however, could see the Black Knights extend their lead at the top.
The Brisbane Roar went 1-0 down to Melbourne City on Tuesday night. Melbourne City hadn’t won in any of their last five outings, so Brisbane fans might have been expecting three points. Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be.
Roar’s game against Melbourne City was their third game in seven days. If that wasn’t bad enough, by the time they play AFC, it will be four games in ten days. That’s huge stress on the players’ bodies – don’t be surprised if head coach Michael Valkanis tinkers with his team selection, as there are bound to be some tired legs in the squad.
Friday’s game against Auckland FC is a great opportunity for Brisbane. If Brisbane gets the three points, they go top of the league, at least temporarily, until the other teams play over the course of the weekend.
Last time out against Auckland, Brisbane earned a point when they drew with AFC in Auckland. A solid away point that not many predicted would happen. Not many are expecting Brisbane to get the win this time around, but strange things happen in football; it comes down to who shows up on the day.
Auckland FC will have come away from Monday night’s fixture against Macarthur a little bit disappointed to not grab all three points, sure, but they will have come away feeling a lot better about their overall performance, as opposed to previous games where they’ve not been up to scratch.
It was the ‘Auckland of old’ in the first half. From the second the referee blew the whistle, our boys were fast, intense, pressing hard, and creating more than enough opportunities to score.
One of the key moments of the game came in the 41st minute. Bulls attacker, Sime Grzan was twisting and turning his way to goal before Dan Hall dispossessed him with a perfectly timed slide tackle. He collects the ball, offloads it to Verstraete on the edge of the box. Verstraete, fighting off his man, stumbles, and finds Sakai who is completely free on the right wing. Sakai bombs forward, and finds Lachie Brook who is one on one with their keeper. Brook does the rest – AFC 1-0 up, through a perfect counter attack, and a beautiful team goal.
Things were a bit different in the second half. Tactical changes for Macarthur meant it proved more difficult to play how we did in the first half. We ended up conceding in the 70th minute to what was actually a decent goal.
The score finished 1-1, Disappointing to not get the result, but so many positives to take away from the game. It was arguably our best performance of the season – that first half especially.
Our focus now turns to Brisbane Roar. Our players should feel in relatively good shape – they didn’t return home after Monday’s game, they’ve stayed over in Aussie and will return home straight after Friday’s game. An added advantage we have over Brisbane – more recovery time than them. This could be a massive factor in Friday’s game with them.
Speaking of advantages for us, and to the delight of Guillermo May – The Port are doing their annual ‘Port of Call’, and will be there in the stadium in their droves, cheering the boys on. Guillermo loves The Port, and loves a good travelling support.
Things are looking bright for this fixture, they’ve never beaten us. We’ve played them three times, and come away 2-0 winners twice, and drawn once.
If we play like we did (especially in the first half) on Monday, this one has three points written all over it. We have to show up for it though, there are no easy games in this league.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Brisbane Roar
Justin Vidic is Brisbane’s danger man. He scored against Auckland in Round 5 to earn a point for his side. He’s also their top goalscorer. Hopefully, Corica has a plan to stop this guy from haunting us again.
Auckland FC
Keep an eye out for Lachie Brook. Last time we played Brisbane, Brook hit a peach of a free kick in front of The Port to take the lead. He’s Auckland’s in-form player, and is only getting better game by game. Might be worth a punt putting money on him to score again on Friday
