All five goal came in a blinding opening half before the homeside notched up their sixth straight win.

Victory were merciless in the opening half hour piling on three goals in 15 mintes through a James Troisi free kick (12'), Marco Rojas strike (17') and Besart Berisha penalty (27').

Just when the home side looked like they had the game by the scruff of the neck a stunning free kick by Dimi Petratos (30') and an own goal by James Donachie (41') reduced the deficit to one going into the break.

But a red card to Berisha (58') will be the main talking point post-match as Kevin Muscat's men were forced to play more than 30 minutes a man down.

Berisha was given a straight red just before the hour for what looked like an elbow to the head or throat of Roar's Luke DeVere. Replays suggested minimal contact and the send-off fired the an already raucous home support. The two had already played a key role in the action when DeVere was adjudged to have brought down Berisha in the box leading to Victory's penalty.

Troisi opened the scoring with his third goal in three games. In what was pehaps was a harsh ruling, Matt McKay was adjudged to have fouled Berisha on the edge of the box and Troisi finished the free kick beautifully leaving goalkeeper Michael Theo rooted to the spot..

Victory wanted to send out a title warning, and just three minutes later Ollie Bozanic’s long ball almost found Berisha again but Corey Brown was there to head it over.

The home side fired in their second after poor defending allowed Rojas to capitalise on Troisi’s long ball catching both Jade North and Theo out of position and giving the Kiwi international his 10th goal of the campaign.

It got worse for the Roar, who found themselves 3-0 down just before the half-hour mark. Referee Chris Beath awarded a penalty to Berisha and the Albanian drove the ball in low and hard. Again, replays suggested there was minimal contact and Roar coach, John Aloisi, remonstrated with fourth official Shaun Evans.

Just a minute later Roar's Tommy Oar nearly pulled one back when his shot from 30 metres was palmed away by goalkeeper Lawrence Thomas before Petratos' free kick made it 3-1 moments later.

Heading towards the breaj Brandon Borello’s cross to Arana came off Donachie to make it 3-2 in the first-half.

Berisha’s red card put paid to another goal blitz in the second-half but set up a tense finish. Linesman Wilson Brown brought the striker's action to the attention of Beath who had no second thoughts about brandishing a red. Replays didn't appease the home crowd who jeered DeVere every time he received the ball.

The Victory fans continued to get behind their team as Rojas had a cluster of chances to double the lead. 

With 10 minutes remaining hands were on heads when Fahid Ben Khalfallah found Troisi who struck the right upright to leave fans biting their nails.

Roar also had chances to snag the equaliser but in the end fell short as the home side held on for a stirring win.

The result sees Victory, with a game in hand, retain second spot on the ladder but close the gap to four points on league leaders Sydney FC and widen the gap on third-placed Melbourne City to nine points. While Roar remain in fourth with their third straight loss.

Victory play Wellington Phoenix next Tuesday while Brisbane also play the Nix next week.

CROWD: 21105

Melbourne Victory: 20. THOMAS Lawrence, 2. GERIA Jason (71’ 5. GEORGIEVSKI Daniel), 4. ANSELL Nick, 6. BROXHAM Leigh, 7. ROJAS Marco (81’ 23. INGHAM Jai), 8. BERISHA Besart, 10 TROISI James, 13. BOZANIC Ollie, 14. BEN KHALFALLAH Fahid (87’ 11. AUSTIN Mitch), 17. DONACHIE James, 21. VALERI Carl

Brisbane Roar: 1. THEO Michael, 3. DEVERE Luke, 5. BROWN Corey, 7. KRISTENSEN Thomas (73’ 22. BROICH Thomas), 11. OAR Tommy, 13. NORTH Jade, 15. ARANA Manuel (56’ 9. MACLAREN Jamie), 17. MCKAY Matt, 19. HINGERT Jack, 23. PETRATOS Dimi, 28. BORRELLO Brandon

Referee: Chris Beath