Western United piled on the misery for Brisbane Roar as they won 2-0 in another frustrating evening at the Suncorp Stadium for Robbie Fowler's men.
Former Roar striker Besart Berisha delivered the hammer blow on the stroke of half time when he converted Aaron Calver’s cross to double United’s advantage. Earlier, Connor Pain had given the away side the lead on ten minutes when he met a delicious Alessandro Diamanti cross to slot past keeper Jamie Young.
The Roar dominated possession throughout, enjoying over 70 per cent throughout the game, also leading the corner count by 11 to two. But it's goals that win games and, despite all their endeavour, they couldn’t find a way past a resolute United defence, who were happy to sit back and defend their lead.
Fowler sent on attacking trio Aaron Amadi-Holloway, Brad Inman and Jai Ingham in the second half, but to no avail. Western United’s defence, superbly marshalled by 37-year-old Andrew Durante, comfortably saw the game out to secure their first clean sheet since their opening game.
Brisbane’s miserable form at the Suncorp continues, with the Roar earning just three wins there in 2019. They also remain the only A-League side not to score a first-half goal this season.
It was better news for United manager Mark Rudan who, post-game, praised his side's discipline and intelligence:
"This was always going to be a difficult game for us… I thought we played a very intelligent game of football. We executed the game plan to perfection."
Rudan was unhappy, though, with the conduct of the Roar coaching staff who he claimed did offer a handshake post-game. He also directed his ire at Brisbane CEO David Pourre who, Rudan alleged, swore at him.
Rudan stated:
I was disappointed, I won’t lie, I went over as normal to shake hands with the opposition coaches and they weren’t around… I asked the CEO and he surprisingly had a crack... I know they are under pressure but you still respect the opposition coach.. I would like a please explain.
Fowler hit back saying he would have happily offered a handshake had Rudan not been too busy celebrating.
"I'm not going to wait around and wait for them to stop their celebrations... if he is offended by that then I apologise."
The Roar coach also offered a different version of events regarding Pourre:
"He’s gone up to my CEO and instigated an argument saying we’re an 'effing' disgrace… he needs to take a look at himself and the performance of some of his players going down."
The defeat leaves the Roar second bottom of the ladder with just two wins from their opening nine games. Victory for Western United sees the newly formed franchise climb to third, with a trip to the Bankwest Stadium to take on Western Sydney Wanderers. Brisbane sits out next weekend with a bye.
SCORE: Western United 2 – Brisbane Roar 0
Adam Cattell is a school teacher with a passion for grassroots football. You can follow him @catter100.
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