Marcin Budzinski went from goalscorer to goal provider, as Dean Bouzanis added to his goalkeeping highlight reel – preventing Massimo Maccarone from the spot.
 
Despite a heroic first-half performance from Maccarone, the Italian failed to secure a draw for the hosts, who fall to seventh on the A-league ladder. 

Meanwhile, City have strengthened their grip on third place and will host league leaders Sydney FC, this Saturday. 

Brisbane Roar

Jamie Young – 5.5

It was all going okay for Young in the first half. Despite conceding a goal, the keeper was busy but kept out a whole host of City attempts. However, miscommunication or simple indecisiveness cost Brisbane a second goal and ultimately, the game.

Jack Hingert – 5.5

When Daniel Arzani swapped wings and entered Hingert’s eyeline midway through the first half, the Roar defender was determined not to be made a fool of. Minutes later, he made a crunching tackle on the City winger, resulting in a yellow card. Message sent.

Jacob Pepper – 4.5

All over the place for City’s opening goal. The 25-year-old didn’t know whether to close down Arzani or follow Budzinski. Had he been more decisive, the defender could have prevented the goal. Pepper was later caught up in the error that led to Stefan Mauk’s winning goal.

Avraam Papadopoulos – 6

Sorry Roar fans, but watching Papadopoulos try to match the pass of Arzani was comical at times. To be fair to him, it shouldn’t have been his job. On the other hand, he did keep Dario Vidosic out of the spotlight and that should not go unnoticed.

Corey Brown – 5

The Brisbane defender was faced with the near-impossible task of keeping Arzani silent. As expected, Arzani played a blinder and Brown would have breathed a sigh of relief when the youngster was substituted.

Thomas Kristensen – 6

A frustrating game for Kristensen, whose side struggled to keep possession. Instead of starting the attacks, Kristensen and Matt McKay found themselves on the back foot, trying to intercept a pass.

Matt McKay – 6

The Brisbane captain looked good in the heart of Brisbane’s midfield, but the depth in City’s attack was often too much for McKay and his men.

Daniel Leck – 5.5

Leck failed to make much of an impact on the game. His performance could be summarised by a scuffed shot which went begging in the second half.

Brett Holman – 7

A continuous nuisance for the City defence, who struggled to stop Holman from running at the defence with the ball at his feet.

Eric Bautheac – 7.5

The Frenchman seemed to disappear from the action at times, but when called upon, he delivered. A pinpoint free-kick found the head of Maccarone, who opened the scoring and a set of tricks and flicks brought the game to life late on.

Massimo Maccarone – 7

How this Italian covers every blade of grass at 38-years-old should serve as inspiration to other veterans in the game. One minute, Maccarone is scoring a sublime header at one end and the next, he is clearing the ball off the line at the other. However, a stuttered run up followed by a poor penalty gifted Melbourne City with the win.

SUBS:

Ivan Franjic – 5

The former City defender entered the field on 61 minutes and his former side scored five minutes later. From here, it was an uphill battle for Franjic and his side.

Fahid Ben Khalfallah – 6.5

The 35-year-old wanted to prove a point to his old rivals and nearly did just that, winning a penalty with just over ten minutes to go.

Corey Gameiro – did not see enough of the ball to warrant a fair rating.

Melbourne City

Dean Bouzanis – 8.5

Pulled off a handful of impressive saves in the first half, but the City goalkeeper secured all three points for his side when he comfortably saved a Maccarone penalty.

Bart Schenkeveld – 7

City’s best defender on the night, which isn’t much of an accolade considering the sloppiness of Michael Jakobsen and Harrison Delbridge. But credit where it’s due, the Dutchman looked solid and confident.

Michael Jakobsen – 6.5

Claimed to have won the ball as the referee pointed to the spot for a foul on Ben Khalfallah. The VAR proved otherwise, but Jakobsen was saved by Bouzanis. Not Jakobsen’s tidiest game, but three points nonetheless.

Harrison Delbridge – 4.5

Committed a cynical foul on Bautheac, which led to the opening goal of the game. The City defender sometimes looked stretched without a right-back to accompany him and as a result, made a handful of errors.

Marcin Budzinski – 8.5

Slipped through the Brisbane defence to level the scores only a few minutes after the opening goal. In the 66th minute, the goalscorer pounced on a defensive error and found the incoming head of Stefan Mauk.

Luke Brattan – 7

The former Roar player consistently turned defence into attack and his range of passing benefitted the wingers ahead of him.

Osama Malik – 7

Had there been a VAR check in the first half, Malik would have certainly conceded a penalty. Much to John Aloisi’s frustration, the VAR remained unchecked and Malik escaped punishment for a foul on Hingert. Other than that, Malik’s passing was and break-up play was spot on.

Scott Jamieson – 7

On his 200th A-league appearance, Jamieson was never too far from the action or the referee’s ear. In all fairness, a couple of decisions wrongly went against him and he made his frustration clear.

Stefan Mauk – 7.5

Mauk’s moment came in the 66th minute, when a defensive error gifted the ball to Budzinski in a wide position. Sprinting into the box came Mauk, who had to extend his neck in order to head the ball home.

Daniel Arzani – 8

The youngster constantly looked to pick holes in Brisbane’s defence and his persistence paid off when he found the vacant feet of Budzinski. How Arzani didn’t give City the lead moments later with a free shot at goal, only he knows. By far the most exciting player on the pitch, despite his “bad habits”.

Dario Vidosic – 5.5

It’s fair to say Vidosic wasn’t the most potent striker on the pitch and had a relatively quiet game.

SUBS

Nicholas Fitzgerald – 6

The Brisbane defence thought the worst was over when Arzani was substituted, but Fitzgerald had other ideas. As Brisbane pushed forward looking to level things, the winger found space but made couple of bad decisions in the process.

Bruce Kamau – did not see enough of the ball to warrant a fair rating.

Manny Muscat – did not see enough of the ball to warrant a fair rating.