A-League 2015/16 – Round 22 – The Matildas Are Going To Rio~!

BRISBANE ROAR 3 WESTERN SYDNEY WANDERERS 2

WELLINGTON PHOENIX 0 ADELAIDE UNITED 4

MELBOURNE CITY 3 SYDNEY FC 0

CENTRAL COAST MARINERS 0 MELBOURNE VICTORY 2

PERTH GLORY 2 NEWCASTLE JETS 0

The Roar Bounce Back In Five Goal Thriller

If you’re lucky – and Brisbane Roar fans are very lucky – in each season you get maybe three or four truly memorable matches.  They could be blow outs (7-1 Adelaide), they could be last gasp victories (2-1, Sydney) or they could be spectacular goals that win you a title (1-0, Melbourne Victory).

Last Friday night was one of those nights as Brisbane put the horror losses of the past fortnight behind them and defeated championship rivals Western Sydney Wanderers 3-2 in spectacular fashion.  After taking an early lead through Jamie Maclaren, the game really came to life during a ten minutes period in the second half where 4 goals were scored.  The Wanderers levelled the game after Brendan Santalab won a penalty which Andreu converted and then took the lead after Romeo Castalan scored an individual goal taking advantage of some lousy Brisbane defending.

In a fine show of character (particularly given their current form), the Roar stormed back into the contest.  First, a delightful touch from Maclaren off a Corona cross levelled the score and then minutes later, super sub Henrique found Dimi Petratos who slotted home the winner.

It would be nice to say that the team rectified their defensive issues but they didn’t really.  But whats important is that the team got back to their winning ways and showed some real grit and determination in getting there.  Next week – a huge home game against Melbourne Victory!

News and Notes

• It’s been coming and at last it happened.  Adelaide United, bottom of the ladder at the end of November, moved to the top of the table after thrashing Wellington 4-0 in New Zealand.  The Reds are undefeated in fourteen and are surely the new favourites to win the championship based on their incredible form.  A stunning achievement for new coach Gui Amor.
• Sydney FC are really terrible.  How terrible?  They have only beaten three teams this season and haven’t won outside of NSW.  A 3-0 drubbing at the hands of Melbourne City saw them finally slip out of the Top Six.  Time to put pressure on Graham Arnold?
• There’s been plenty of noise coming out of the FFA this week.  Firstly, there was talk of a new four year plan which teased possible shake ups in terms of branding and bringing in new “7 figure” marquee players into the league.  Then, days later, CEO Damien De Bohun resigned.  It’s the latest in a truly shambolic season for the FFA.  No wonder Tim Cahill publicly ruled out a return to Australia because of the administration’s disastrous handling of the domestic game.
• He hasn’t had his name in lights like Besart Berisha yet but Melbourne City’s striker Bruno Fornarolli became the first player in the competition to score 20 goals during the regular season.  With five rounds to go and a hattrick against his name this week, its likely he’ll continue to add to that tally and win the Golden Boot at a canter.
• The Matildas are the toast of Australian football, having qualified for the Rio Olympics in emphatic style beating Japan, North Korea, Vietnam and South Korea in the Asian qualifiers.  The decisive manner in which they won these games, including against hosts Japan who are World Cup finalists, have fans dreaming of winning medals in Rio.