A-League 2016/17 – Round Three – Recovery

MELBOURNE CITY 2 PERTH GLORY 3

CENTRAL COAST MARINERS 0 BRISBANE ROAR 1

ADELAIDE UNITED 1 MELBOURNE VICTORY 2

WELLINGTON PHOENIX 0 SYDNEY FC 1

WESTERN SYDNEY WANDERERS 2 NEWCASTLE JETS 2

Brisbane Bounce Back.  Sort Of.

After last week’s diabolical performance, Brisbane Roar needed to bounce back quickly.  Lucky then that they faced one of the most consistently terrible teams in the last two seasons – the Central Coast Mariners.  The once mighty Mariners, who were the Roar’s arch rivals in the greatest grand final in the history of the competition, are now a shadow of the club they once were.  They are arguably ‘not of A-League’ standard and would probably be bested by any number of NPL sides today.

So the Roar spluttered, coughed and moderately improved on last week’s performance and eventually midfielder Thomas Kristensen made the most of a scrappy goal mouth scramble and scored the only goal of the game.  The Roar created many of more chances, all of which were blown.  Not only do strikers Jamie Maclaren and Brett Holman continue to look depressingly out of form and low on confidence, even substitutes Brandon Borrello and Joey Katabian seem out of form.  The two youngsters came on as subs late in the game when the Mariners defence were completely off their feet.  Borrello and Katabian found themselves in front of goal with just the keeper to beat.  Instead of sliding in a pass coolly for a tap-in, Borrello showed no chill and blazed the ball over the bar.  It sums up where the Roar are at currently with just two goals in the campaign so far – a stoppage time winner from a defender and a goal mouth scramble scored by a defensive midfielder.

When your team is on a down turn, you take any 3 points you can get but truth be told the Roar still look incredibly disjointed.  The defence was easily pulled apart by the Mariners who created plenty of their own opportunities and the link up play in attack has been ponderous.  This was a game littered with loose passes.

Based on the other games this round I’d say the side is in for a spanking when they face a rampant Perth Glory next week.

News and Notes

• Perth Glory looked impressive in their 3-2 away win over Melbourne City, stopping the high flying Victorians after their derby win last week.  Andy Keogh scored and hattrick and the side made good on exposing City’s back line in a way that Victory and Phoenix failed to be in the first two rounds.
• Wellington Phoenix.  3 games.  0 goals.  0 points.  The side somehow failed to make a goal count in a game against Sydney FC where they dominated for large portions of the game.  They were robbed of a legitimate goal by the lineswoman who incorrectly ruled Roy Krishna offside.  Sydney being Sydney, sat back and pounced in stoppage time with a last gasp winner from Ninkovic to steal all the points.
• After the way Western Sydney Wanderers goal keeper Andrew Redmayne let in two cheap goals in seven minutes, I’d be surprised if we see him again this season.
• Who would have thought that Newcastle Jets, who finished ninth last year and sacked their coach and assistant coach one month before the start of the season, would be undefeated after the first three rounds of the competition where they faced Adelaide United (champions), Brisbane Roar (semi-finalists) and Western Sydney Wanderers (grand finalists).  Coach Mark Jones is performing minor miracles with the club from the Hunter Valley.
• Defending champions Adelaide United look like their in for a slow start to the season once again.  Although after last seasons antics, who would right them off?  Their Friday night game against Melbourne was an absolute thriller.