Brisbane Roar and Melbourne Victory could not be split on the weekend, with Leigh Broxham and Ivan Franjic putting away great goals to end the scores level. What happened and why?

Victory

Feed the Brox
And he will score, so went the trending hashtag that is so often used by reverential fans to describe their no.6. They weren’t let down as the cult hero leapt over James Donachie and Franjic to head home accurately. Broxham has been a jack of all trades this season and did prove it again on this gameday, starting in midfield and switching to right-back after Adama Traore’s injury. The reaction to this goal had it been scored at home would have been fantastic.

Sloppy passes
The pitch may have offered a mitigating circumstance, but far too many passes went astray for Victory to have that constant threat going forward. It creatured pressure going the opposite end, keeping the defence busy. The Victory/Angeball way relies on being accurate and quickly on the transition. Too many times, this went begging. Franjic exposed it perfectly in the second half.

Not so Stella subs
Spase Dilevski was a forced sub on the 55th minute, what would surprise was the hesitance behind deploying Jesse Makarounas (stoppage-time sub) and Andrew Nabbout (unused). When the game is on the line, substitutions are there to impact the game and should be used accordingly. The omission of Francesco Stella also surprised, given he has been a squad regular as of late and hasn’t done much wrong.

Reshape post-Traore
It was harrowing hearing Adama Traore screams picked up by sideline microphones, his injury looked terrible on replay and here is hoping that ankle is better than it looked. Scott Galloway and Broxham switched to left and right back respectively with Dilevski in midfield. They were forced to cling on as Brisbane had the momentum, they did that as part of the defence that managed to switched momentum the other way.

Should they have won? (part. 1)
If the game was over by the first half, then yes. An outstanding first half should have seen Victory with more than one goal on the board. But on the balance of the 90 minutes of play, the visitors can’t be too upset with a point. Archie Thompson proved a standout in midfield, while the back four earned their keep as well. It was a thrilling game, but it is not hard to feel like you’re dancing with your brother at the end of it.

Brisbane

Should they have won? (pt. 2)
Like their opponents, they can’t have too many qualms about the end result. Momentum was theirs for the majority of the second half and some of the first, but they were wasteful in the final third, especially with delivery. Despite conceding a goal through a Broxham header that should never have been allowed to happen, the defence held its ground when it needed to.

Franjic’s goal
A burst of pace and power from the Roar fullback saw the home side equalise. Running nearly half the pitch to recieve the ball at his feet, Franjic smashed his shot past Nathan Coe. Franjic was played through so well by Luke Brattan, with maybe a bit of offiside however. So much of the Brisbane attacking push comes from the fullbacks, and it was illustrated perfectly through that goal.

Theo’s performance
The former Victory stopper pulled off a few nice saves in the first half to keep his side in it when momentum was against them.  He bookends a defence that has conceded only one goal in over 400 minutes of football. As well as controlling his area, Theo is also a force as a stopper as well. That was so well proven in the first half on the weekend.

Victory’s Bogeyman?
This result marks the eighth game Roar haven’t lost to Victory. Coming off two stunning seasons saw Roar sweep everyone before them. Even though Roar have been very well short from their highs not-so-long-ago, Victory still weren’t able to beat them in December either. This comes down to the Victory style playing into Roar’s hands. With Brisbane being a great pressing side, Victory have yet to find a way to beat that.

Are they back?
Slowly they are getting back and finding their way under Mike Mulvey. A great sign was the passes wide repeatedly getting to wingers/full-backs in behind the visiting defence. They now have winning form behind them heading into finals and that cannot be ignored. Whilst it was surprising to see Mulvey hurriedly appointed full-time before season’s end, that move is slowly being rewarded with recent results.