The former Fulham man fired the ball into the roof of Liam Reddy's net to give Ernie Merrick's men another three points.

In a particularly spicy first half, Roar old boy Robbie Kruse found himself the subject of some close, personal attention from his former colleagues - especially Danny Tiatto.

In front of a crowd of 19,587, Melbourne's best home crowd of the season which coincided with their first home match following the end of the AFL season, Victory took an early lead through Ney Fabiano but coughed up an equaliser just eight minutes later courtesy of Brisbane's Brazilian striker Reinaldo.

The reigning A-League champions then hit the woodwork twice in the first half alone but in the second half looked to be struggling to break down a well-organised Brisbane defence until Leijer pounced following a free-kick from the right by Carlos Hernadez.

But Leijer can consider himself lucky to have still been on the pitch when he scored the winning goal after receiving a yellow card following a push and shove match, which flared between the two teams after Brisbane hardman Danny Tiatto had been booked for blocking former team-mate Robbie Kruse in the 36th minute.

Leijer then clattered into Brisbane's Henrique in the 53rd minute but escaped punishment when a second yellow would have seen him sent from the field with Henrique eventually limping off in the 59th minute.

The two teams might have gone into this clash sitting in fifth and sixth place respectively on the table but with the top two teams in Gold Coast and Perth Glory having already played out draws this round and with other leading teams in Sydney, Central Coast and Adelaide all not playing until Monday, top spot was on offer for the winner of this match.

And Victory now find themselves sitting in familiar territory following their third successive win, after recent away wins at Adelaide and the Gold Coast, while they are now unbeaten in five matches.

For Brisbane, it was their first loss on the road this season but the defeat still leaves Roar just three points behind ladder-leading Victory.

Brisbane will also consider themselves unlucky to have conceded the first goal which came in the third minute when Ney Fabiano was able to head home unmarked from a pinpoint cross from the right by Archie Thompson.

Roar's veteran defender Craig Moore stood dumbfounded after the goal was given, looking for a yellow card for an off-side that never came, but it appeared a line-ball decision of the kind that usually goes against the attacking team.

It was Fabiano's first goal of the season as he takes over as Thompson's partner up front following the departure of Danny Allsopp.

But Brisbane soon hit back with Brazilian striker Reinaldo equalising with a well-taken goal in the 11th minute following a superb defence splitting pass from Charlie Miller.

However the rest of the first half was all Melbourne with first Thompson hitting the cross bar in the 20th minute before Fabiano struck a post right on half-time.

But when Melbourne's second goal finally arrived it came from the unlikeliest of sources when Leijer got his head to a Hernandez cross and then reacted first when the ball landed on the turf as he lashed home from close range leaving Roar keeper Liam Reddy no chance