Melbourne Victory 0-1 Brisbane Roar
Alice de Koster-Kitto 11/01/2026
Photo: Marianna Seidl. Photo: Brisbane Roar
The Home of The Matildas saw visitors Brisbane Roar take the points in a 1-0 defeat over Melbourne Victory. The win marks their second against Victory this season, after a 3-2 victory in November.
Brisbane had the advantage at the start, as the wind made a significant impact on play early on, and they were the initial holders of the possession. It was Victory, however, who had early chances, despite shooting against the wind, with attempts from Kennedy White and Rhianna Pollicina that were intercepted by the Roar defence.
Victory was able to move the ball forward frequently, through the efforts of Pollicina and Holly Furphy, but a lack of allowed space from Brisbane’s backline meant the visitors continued to hold the upper hand.
An excellent save from Courtney Newbon kept Brisbane Roar from taking the lead in the 18th minute, when a dangerous strike from Bente Jansen caused panic for Victory’s defence.
A clever pass from White to Furphy, who made a great cross that almost amounted to a goal, presented the first real danger for Roar.
Taylor Ray made a cross from distance, straight through the midfield to Pollicina, who tried to shoot on target. While the ball was footed away, it was an excellent build-up from Victory, and it propelled their likelihood of scoring.
A shot outside the box from Daisy Brown that couldn’t quite reach an orange shirt allowed for a corner kick from Marianna Siedle, which could have amounted to an opening goal direct from the corner, but was just wide of the net.
Victory took over the majority of the possession towards the tail end of the first half, while Roar seemed to have better opportunities to open the scoreline. Despite efforts at both ends, neither side could break through during the first half.
There was a new sense of urgency at the top of the second half, and a few moments of physicality, as both sides searched desperately to find the back of the net.
Taylor Ray was a standout for the hosts, as her long balls over the heads of Brisbane’s midfield were able to get Victory out of moments of danger when being trapped by the Roar.
A run from Sharn Freier got the ball to Daisy Brown, who made a phenomenal strike towards goal, which was deflected by Jancevski at the last minute, sending it just over the crossbar. Brown continued to come close to opening the scoreline when another shot bounced off the crossbar.
The 19-year-old’s efforts came to fruition in the 56th, heading the ball in off a Siedl corner. There was some debate as to whether the goal was awarded to Brown or would be an own goal from Laura Pickett, although the goal was ultimately given to Brown.
As stoppage time approached, the game remained in favour of Brisbane. While there weren’t any particularly close shots at either end, if there was another goal to come, it looked likely it would be from Brisbane, as they continued to dominate, while Victory fell somewhat flat.
Furphy made way for Nicki Flannery in the 71st minute, whose speed gave some power back to Victory, although any chances were quickly intercepted.
Brisbane got alarmingly close to extending their lead, as a run from Kijah Stephenson was not intercepted until the very last second, as it seemed the ball was set to go over the line.
The scoreline was almost equalised, as a ball in from Pollicina met the foot of Whote, who took a shot that was not to be intercepted by Brisbane’s defence. The shot, however, was expertly stopped by Chloe Lincoln.
After 4 minutes of added time, there were no more goals to be found, and victory belonged to Brisbane, although a late shot from Pollicina had the hosts close to equalising.
Melbourne Victory will head to Coopers Stadium in round 13 to take on Adelaide United, while Brisbane will go head-to-head with the Wanderers in Western Sydney.
MELBOURNE VICTORY (4-1-4-1): Newbon, Pickett, Bunge, Morrison, Jancevski, Ray, Furphy, Pollicina, Lowe, Sakalis, White. Substitutes: O’Grady, Woodward, Blissett, Saveska, Flannery, Techera
BRISBANE ROAR (4-2-3-1): Lincoln, Seidl, Varley, Hayashi, Miller, Piazza, Woods, Medwin, Brown, Freier, Jansen. Substitutes: Studer, Meyers, Stephenson, Cuthbert, Kinsella, Franco
Goals: Brown 56’.
Referee: Caitlin Williams.
Attendance: 1,008.
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