New recruits shine as Roar overcome Glory in ALM
Joel Gould |
A wonder strike by South Korea international Nam Tae-hee has lit up Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane Roar’s 2-1 win over Perth Glory.
High-profile signing Nam, playing his first A-League Men match for the club, struck in the 42nd minute with a goal of pure class on Friday night to get the Roar’s campaign off to a winning start.
The attacking midfielder tipped a bouncing ball up for himself just outside the box and then let rip with a right-foot rocket into the roof of the net.
“We knew when we looked at Nam that he could be that player to make a difference in midfield that we lacked last season,” Roar coach Michael Valkanis said.
“That player that is creative and can find a final pass … and there is more in him. That goal was a great finish.”
Striker Justin Vidic opened the scoring for the Roar in the 28th minute.
The Glory hit back on the hour mark when substitute Matthew Ellis scored with his first touch in the ALM after being on the field for just 33 seconds.
Ellis’s strike came after a shocking back pass by Roar defender Joel King, who was playing his first game for the club after a move from Sydney FC.
Stefan Colakovski should have equalised but sprayed his shot off target with an open goal in front of him.
The Roar fielded seven new players in their starting side and most of them provided impetus.
“It is always good to win, especially the first game of the season,” Valkanis said.
“We have a lot of new faces and a lot of work has been done behind the scenes to get them to gel.”
Full back Tate Russell set up the opening goal after working hard to intercept goalkeeper Matthew Sutton’s throw out and then delivering a pinpoint cross for Vidic to steer home.
The Roar, after finishing a disappointing 11th last season, started well with the midfield in control.
The deadly left foot of Tyrese Francois has received rave reviews from Valkanis in the pre-season. Defender Tom Aldred set him up beautifully but the former Fulham midfielder shot just wide from outside the box.
Vidic, who was everywhere, headed just over the bar not long after scoring as winger Sabit Ngor, formerly with Central Coast, created plenty of chances.
Pieter Jacobsz had the Glory’s best chance in the first half when he had an open goal but sprayed his left-foot shot wide.
Striker Tom Lawrence also fired wide just after the break as Perth failed to capitalise on chances.
“We gave the first goal away and it put us on the back foot,” Glory coach Adam Griffiths said.
“But we did have a lot of good chances to score and we didn’t finish.
“We came out in the second half and showed some character. We had the opportunity to get the second (goal) but we just didn’t take it.”
AAP