Wanderers bounce back from hammering with draw vs. Roar

Updated: May 17, 2023, 05:08 am

Brisbane Roar and Western Sydney have shared the spoils after an entertaining 1-1 A-League draw at Moreton Daily Stadium.

The Wanderers held a 1-0 half-time lead as they aimed to bounce back from their 4-1 thumping by Melbourne City last week but a second-half equaliser from Japanese youngster Riku Danzaki secured a point for the hosts.

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The result does however extend the seventh-placed Roar's winless streak to eight matches.

Western Sydney stay fifth with 23 points from 15 matches.

Former Roar striker Kwame Yeboah opened the scoring in the 12th minute when he gave Roar goalkeeper Jamie Young no chance with a placed finish after some good build-up work by Keanu Baccus and Bruce Kamau.

It was a troubling start for a Roar defence without injured captain Tom Aldred or suspended Macaulay Gillesphey and the Wanderers could, and probably should, have extended their lead but Kamau and Mitchell Duke failed to convert good opportunities.

Impressive winger Joey Champness then started to influence the game, twice going close for the hosts before Yeboah appeared to put the visitors two up in the 37th minute when he ran on to a loose ball after Kamau had been fouled.

Despite referee Alex King playing an advantage, Yeboah's emphatic finish was correctly ruled out for an offside.

Riku Danzaki celebrates after scoring an equaliser for Brisbane Roar.
Albert Perez/Getty Images

The Roar came out after the break with plenty of intent, Champness using his pace to create havoc in the visitors' defence.

The on-loan winger forced Wanderers' keeper Daniel Margush into a smart save in the 46th minute and then turned provider just three minutes later when he fed Danzaki after another burst of speed.

The 20-year-old rounded Margush and fired home his fourth goal of an impressive campaign.

The Roar nearly took the lead moments later when Champness created space for Golgol Mebrahtu but the 30-year-old's attempt was well smothered by Margush.

Frustrated Roar coach Warren Moon felt his team had again been thwarted by poor finishing.

"We should have won that game, we had enough clear cut chances to win that game and we're disappointed," Moon said.

"The performances and being competitive and being in every game and having the opportunity to win is there but it is quite simple, we're not taking any chances."

Wanderers boss Carl Robinson was similarly disappointed, believing his team should have wrapped up the points in the first half.

"We got our noses in front and we probably should have been minimum two, maybe three goals ahead. We missed some gilt-edged chances," Robinson said.

"The disappointing thing for me is at halftime, I spoke about defending correctly and we didn't defend correctly for the goal ... then it became end-to-end and they probably had slightly better chances than us in the second half if I'm being honest.

"Could've gone either way, but we should have been out of sight."

The Roar suffered a late setback when experienced defender Jack Hingert limped off after going down injured off the ball.