Brisbane Roar returned to winning ways in style with a vintage performance against the Central Coast Mariners, winning 6-1 in front of the Suncorp Stadium faithful.
Steven Lustica scored a brilliant hat-trick, including two well-taken long strikes. Meanwhile, Adrija Kaluderovic, Devante Clut and Brandon Borrello all chipped in with goals to make it a miserable night for the Central Coast Mariners.
Formations
Frans Thijssen continued with the 4-3-3 formation. Daniel Bowles and Jade North played at centre-half, with Jack Hingert and Shane Stefanutto on the right and left repectively. In midfield, Matt McKay had only just returned form Socceroos duty, so he started from the bench. The midfield consisted of Lustica, Thomas Broich and Luke Brattan. Up front, Jean Carlos Solorzano played on one wing, with Borello on the other, while Kaluderovic was the centre-forward. This formation continues to play to Brisbane’s strengths as the entire squad is so familiar with it, allowing for width and the full-backs to overlap.
Brisbane Roar XI (4-3-3): Young (GK); Hingert, Bowles, North, Stefanutto; Lustica, Brattan, Broich; Borello, Solorzano, Kaluderovic.
Tony Walmsley again shaped his team up in a 4-4-2 diamond. Josh Rose, Zac Anderson, Eddy Bosnar and Hayden Morton, made up the back four, while in midfield, John Hutchinson played at the base of the diamond with Nick Montgomery, Isaka Cernak and Anthony Caeres in front of him. Up front were Nick Fitzgerlad and Fabio Ferreria. However, a Zac Anderson injury in the first half forced the team into a reshuffle with Montgomery dropping back into defence, resulting in a wave of second half goals.
Central Coast Mariners XI (4-4-2): Reddy (GK); Morton, Anderson, Bosnar, Rose; Hutchinson, Montgomery, Cernak, Caceres; Fitzgerald, Ferreira.
Steven Lustica won the midfield duel against John Hutchinson
A key area of the game was in midfield, with the three Brisbane players continually dominating the Central Coast diamond throughout the match. In particular, the match up of Lustica and Hutchinson epitomises the struggles Central Coast had in containing the attacking flow and stamping its authority on the game. While Broich was a key figure, he only played the first half but Lustica played the entire 90 and his performace score (provided by Squawka.com) represents a clear trend similar to the team performance of Brisbane.
While it creates a stark contrast beyween the two players, the most important fascet of the graphic is how Lustica’s score sky rockets from the 25th minute onwards. This represents a key aspect of how the game flowed. While Brsbane did dominate the game, it was not until after 20 minutes that it managed to break the deadlock through Kaluderovic, but from there the Roar never looked back.
Daniel Bowles outplayed centre-half counterpart Eddy Bosnar
The key selection by Thijssen was to play Bowles at centre-back. Many fans would be used to watching him as a right-full back but after this game, it would not be surprising to see him slowly grow into cover in the centre of defence. He looked assured when tackling and his speed allowed him to push up slightly as he felt confident in a foot race against the strikers. Furthermore, when paired against Bonsar, Bowles was clearly the better of the two players, despite Bowles scoring an unfortunate own goal in the second half. A key statistic from the game is that Bowles made eight interceptions to Bosnar’s two.
Passing is a key part of defending, particularly with the increasing prominence of playing out from the back. The two passing maps show the contrasting fortunes and worrying signs for Central Coast. Bowles was able to maintain his focus on his right side of defence, shown by the strong cluster of passes, while Bosar was forced to spread himself across the back four, showing a player and team that was very stretched and was opened up by Brisbane. His lack of passes also represents the Central Coast game plan, as the centre-backs, and especially Bosnar, are not renowned for their distribution.
Brisbane Overpowered Central Coast in the Attacking Third
A final point to be taken from the game is Brisbane’s complete dominance in the front third of the field, as Brisbane had 13 shots on target to Central Coast’s five. The Roar players were not afraid to shoot and Lustica made the most of a night when the pressing of the opposition defence was not good enough.
While Central Coast was still able to muster five shots on target, this graphic represents the fact that of those shots, three were hopeful long-range strikes, one was straight at the keeper and the other was the own goal, a measly return showing the dominance of the Brisbane team and its ability to shut the Mariners out of the game and attack with such brutal accuracy and force.
Brisbane Roar Conclusion
Brisbane now looks forward to its Asian Champions League fixture midweek in Korea and next weekend’s key fixture against Adelaide in South Australia. With the current salary cap saga playing out at Perth Glory, Brisbane could see a position in the finals open up should Perth lose points as part of any sanctions. This represents a second chance for the club and its season, and with players returning from international duty, Brisbane’s squad is looking more and more imposing. The key message from this game is that Brisbane must maintain this style of play and build consistency from what was its best game of the season so far.
Central Coast Mariners Conclusion
Central Coast’s season is now effectively over, as it is eight points behind the Roar, having played a game more. A new coach must be found in earnest, while a player clean-out should be put on hold until the coach arrives, allowing the new man to put his own mark on the game. The club must be brutal with this overturn of players, because this season has not been up to previous year’s standards. Central Coast plays Western Sydney in Gosford next week, a game that must be won to create belief and give hope to the Central Coast fans for next season.
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