Roar win first ever match in Sydney

Brisbane coach Ange Postecoglou says he has no concerns over his side peaking too
early after the Roar stretched their unbeaten run to 16 matches with a 1-0 A-League
win over Sydney FC.
The Roar are now seven points clear at the top of the table and playing wonderful
football, but must find a way to stay finely tuned with the finals still two months
away.
Brisbane have not lost since September 12, while their clinical handling of Sydney
on Sunday was their first ever win at the Sydney Football Stadium in six seasons of
the A-League.
Postecoglou admitted his men probably should have scored another couple of goals,
but was pleased with the clean sheet.
The coach is conscious of his players practising to grind out games with the
business end of the season approaching, but isn't worried that the Roar's winning
streak has come too early.
"It's not an issue for us, our whole thing from the start of the year is we want to
play better every week and if that's your focus you can't get complacent and you
can't peak too early.
"All the signs say to me that we've still got more in us and I expect us to finish
the season strong."
It took the Roar 40 minutes to register their dominance on the scoreboard, but their
control of possession meant it was only ever a matter of time.
Brilliant striker Kosta Barbarouses threaded a tight angle to score after being
given some space by Jean Carlos Solorzano to the right of goal.
The visitors enjoyed a whopping 68 per cent of possession in the first half, with
the Sky Blues almost always back on their heels after cheap turnovers.
The injection of Alex Brosque gave Sydney the upperhand for the opening 15 minutes
of the second half, but they weren't able to capitalise and soon Brisbane resumed
control.
Roar midfielder Erik Paartalu said self-belief is the key to the turnaround from
being last year's cellar-dwellers.
"Every game we play we seem to get more confidence and it's not necessarily from the
results we're getting it's just the performances," he said.
"The way we're playing and believing in the coach's philosophy ... all the players
are buying into it and that's a big thing in a team environment.
"We've worked hard and sacrificed a lot and we all believe in each other so we'll
just keep going until the end of the season and see where it takes us."
Sydney sit four points out of the top six and must beat North Queensland in
Townsville on Wednesday night to stay in the hunt for a playoff spot.
Just 7554 fans turned up to watch the ailing defending premiers on a beautiful
afternoon in the harbour city, with sections of the crowd even booing their side off
at halftime.
"We have a game plan but not like this. We should play more aggressive in defence,"
lamented Lavicka.
"I think second half we definitely improved ... but we didn't score the goal."