Brisbane Roar have moved to second place on the Isuzu UTE A-League Men ladder after an incredible 1-0 win over Adelaide United at Coopers Stadium on Sunday night.
After midfielder Milorad Stajic was forced to leave the field just seconds prior to kick off after injuring his leg and replaced by Austin Ludwik, the match commenced with the Reds finding the woodwork from a header just minutes into the match.
The boys began to settle into the contest early, creating a pair of half chances through O’Shea and Klein however neither managed to find the back of the net. After a tight and tense middle period Klein again continued to create half chances before keeper Dean Bouzanis was forced into a low save in the 33rd minute by Yaya Dukuly.
The remaining minutes of the half saw the Roar receive a number of yellow cards with warnings handed out to Michael Ruhs, Jay O’Shea, Dimitri Valkanis and Justin Vidic.
The start of the second half brought with it a pair of substitutions with Chris Long and Jordan Lauton replacing Georgios Vrakas and Michael Ruhs and it was Lauton who combined well with Justin Vidic in the 61st minute which saw Vidic unleash a low shot from outside the box which was saved well.
The next passage saw the Reds create a number of chances forcing Valkanis’ men to defend their line and defend they did until the 76th minute when Chris Long broke clear and took the ball half the field, finally unleashing a lightning strike however his effort was saved well by Smits.
The remaining minutes of the match saw both sides fight hard to find the decisive goal and it was James McGarry who after an incredible run was brought down in the area however his claims were waved away by the referee.
Incredibly, with just seconds remaining in the match, Christopher Long popped up with a contender for goal of the season with an incredible strike from distance to steal all three points.
Our next match sees us head to Western Sydney Wanderers next Saturday afternoon.