Le Fondre double lifts Sydney FC over resurgent Roar
Adam Le Fondre’s cunning double helped Sydney FC edge Brisbane Roar 2-1 in Saturday’s Hyundai A-League clash.
Le Fondre registered a predatory finish either side of the interval to cancel out a first half equaliser from Roar’s Matt McKay and lift the Sky Blues into second place on the Hyundai A-League ladder.
Sydney had earned just three points at home prior to kick off but did just enough to outlast the visiting Queenslanders, who aggressively chased the match under interim coach Darren Davies and saw Andrew Redmayne claw away Adam Taggart’s 83rd minute penalty.
The defeat is Roar’s fifth consecutive, a feat the three-time Champions have only suffered once before in their history, and one that keeps the side second from bottom.
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Roar parted ways with former head coach John Aloisi on Friday and entered the clash having conceded more goals than any other team since the start of December – and it wasn’t long before the defence was breached in Kogarah.
Jamie Young denied Siem de Jong’s header and pushed a Brandon O’Neill free-kick to safety before Le Fondre broke the deadlock with a clever looping header over the Brisbane shot stopper.
Young then pulled off a first-class reaction save from Alex Brosque’s bullet header, inspiring the visitors to steady and cause the Sky Blues some problems of their own.
Taggart fired a great chance at Andrew Redmayne after a sloppy Sydney turnover, and Brisbane would equalise through their midfield veteran McKay – who bundled the ball over the line with his chest after a fantastic 13-pass move from the visitors.
However, the Sky Blues retook the lead through Le Fondre early in the second stanza. The 32-year-old tucked a fine first-time finish into the far corner following an inventive break forward from the reigning Premiers.
Roar rallied again and had chances to test Redmayne via Bautheac and Nicholas D’Agostino, but were left to rue Taggart’s tame effort from the spot, with the Sydney FC keeper diving low to his left to repel the striker’s effort.
Re-live all the action from the Saturday night free-to-air clash in our LIVE BLOG below.
