Roar end Sydney FC's perfect season start
Nov 19, 2016 - 11:56 AM Sydney FC's A-League winning streak has come to an end but they remain unbeaten this season after a spirited 1-1 draw with Brisbane Roar.Josh Brillante and Thomas Kristensen scored first-half goals but the two sides couldn't be split after a compelling and controversial clash at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday night.
The crowd of 17,322 was left incensed Sydney's Rhyan Grant wasn't sent off in the 77th minute after he was shown what appeared to be his second yellow card for bringing down striker Jamie Maclaren, who was surging on a counter attack.
However, referee Alan Milliner didn't actually book Grant for his first challenge on Thomas Broich in the 59th minute, even though he brought out his card after whistling for the foul.
It was the flashpoint of an often niggly encounter between the Sky Blues and the Roar, who played up Queensland's traditional sporting rivalry with NSW by wearing maroon jerseys instead of their usual orange.
But they didn't exactly inspire a State of Origin-level performance, as the hosts could have easily been three or four goals down before halftime.
Unable to play through Sydney's relentless press, the Roar coughed up the ball repeatedly while trying to play out of defence, with Brillante taking advantage of their sloppiness in the 13th minute with a rocket from 20 metres out.
They should have scored again through Bobo and Alex Brosque, who within seconds of each other pounced on stray passes at the back from Brisbane to go one-on-one with goalkeeper Michael Theo.
Neither found the target and minutes later, the Roar made them pay by squaring the ledger, completely against the run of play.
Tommy Oar's 40th minute cross landed perfectly for Kristensen, who used the outside of his foot to curl the ball past the outstretched glove of Danny Vukovic and into the back of the net.
Sydney continued to push but couldn't get past Theo, who produced strong saves to deny a Brandon O'Neill free kick and a close-range attempt from Ninkovic, before bravely shutting out substitute Bernie Ibini in the dying seconds.
Match officials declined the opportunity to clarify the Grant incident after the match.
Referees are banned from looking at video replays and Brisbane coach John Aloisi said it would have been "poor" if Milliner had glanced at the big screen and decided not to award the card.
"It's worrying if he did do that. I'm not saying he did. I will actually go the other way and just think because there was a melee, he forgot to give it," he said.
"He's obviously just forgotten. But I don't know how you can forget when it's in your hand."
Sydney coach Graham Arnold said his side was outstanding and he was only disappointed they didn't take all three points.
"We had enough chances in the first half to win two or three games," he said.
"But at the end of the day they've got a very good goalkeeper who kept them in the game."
Source: AAP
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