Brisbane Roar got right back in to finals contention on Sunday as they managed a 2-0 victory over Wellington Phoenix at Suncorp Stadium.
Brisbane Roar were controlling the match early, with the bulk of the possession they controlled the tempo and the play but despite that it was the visitors who had the ball in the back of the net in the eighth minute.
Cory Gameiro was the Wellington player who had the ball in the back of the net but saw his effort chalked off as the referee adjudged that he held back Jade North in the process.
At the other end Brisbane had a solid chance of their own as Besarat Berisha played Ben Halloran clean through one-on-one with the keeper only for Halloran to take too much time making it an easy save for the keeper.
Gameiro continued to impress and in the 25th minute forced a save out of Michael Theo as he dived low to his right to make a fingertip save.
After half an hour of domination from Wellington, Brisbane finally came alive and an incredibly fluid passing play opened the scoring for Brisbane as the move ended when Shane Steffanuto crossed for Steven Lustica who easily scored.
That goal sprung Wellington’s attack back in to life and two minutes later Theo made another superb diving save to deny Louis Fenton and keep Brisbane 1-0 up at the break.
Just after half-time Brisbane Roar took the game away from Wellington as a poor pass from Daniel Sanchez allowed Luke Brattan to play Berisha through allowing the Albanian a simple finish.
Wellington could well have pulled a goal back with two chances in quick succession, the first to Stein Huysegms who saw his effort blocked by Jade North before Tyler Boyd sent his header after being left unmarked.
Wellington Phoenix had to go all out for a goal in the closing stages which allowed Brisbane plenty of time and space on the counter and in the 80th minute should have conceded as the goal was left wide open but neither Berisha nor Craig Brown could drive the ball home.
It mattered little as Brisbane held on for the win which pushed Wellington down to last place in the league.
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