A 10 man Queensland Roar almost did the impossible as they drew 1-1 with Melbourne Victory at Lang Park. Michael Baird put the Roar ahead mid-way through the second half, only to see Daniel Allsopp pull one back for the Victory in the dying minutes.
The turning point of the game came in the 40th minute a vicious Matthew McKay tackle brought the red card out from Ben Williams. Up until this time it was mostly Queensland Roar with the most dangerous opportunities.
The three pronged attack of Richter, Brosque, and Baird proved fruitful early on, as Brosque had his shot saved in the 8th minute, then went down in a wave of appeals in the box in the 11th minute.
In the 14th minute Jonathon Richter cut inside to Matt McKay in some space. McKay hit a beautiful shot which went inches from the top corner.
The Roar pressed and pressed, but the Victory defence, led by Kevin Muscat was holding firm. On the half hour a superb one-two between McKay and Brosque left Brosque inside the area, but a last ditch tackle from Muscat saved the Victory.
Once again in McKay and Brosque combined in the 33rd minute as McKay cut the ball back in the box, but Brosque's shot came off Michael Theoklitos' foot.
It seemed at this point the Queensland Roar had run out of gas and the Victory now took control. In the 36th minute a Richard Kitzbichler free kick missed everyone except Daniel Piorkowski, whose shot went over the bar.
Only a minute later an Andy Vlahos through ball, put Archie Thompson through on goal and he's well struck shot was saved superbly by Thomas Willis. Two minutes later and a lovely long ball from Geoffrey Claeys put Andy Vlahos in space down the line, he low cross was met by Kitzbichler who hit the bottom of the post.
The game was getting exciting and frantic, and it was at this point that McKay lashed out with a dangerous tackle, which he was duly sent off for.
The Victory only had one chance before the break, Allsopp was free in the area but Kitzbichler's cross was too high.
Vince Lia came on for Kitzbichler at half time and the Victory started were they left off in the first. Only three minutes into the half and Claeys's header went just wide from a corner.
In the 51st minute Piorkowski released Lia on the left with a good long ball but Lia's show went wide of the upright.
As the Victory were attacking, gaps were appearing in their defence, and the Roar was starting to capitalise. In the 54 minute Massimo Murdocca ran off on a quick counter attack but his shot went straight to Theoklitos.
Warren Moon came on for Richter at half time and was starting to make an impression on the game. On the hour Moon put Brosque through on goal, who rounded the keeper but was unable to finish; he's cut back was skyed by Murdocca.
Two minutes later another Roar counter attack had Brosque on the right. He's pinpoint ball was side volleyed into the back of the net by Michael Baird. The Roar were on the way to the impossible, a victory with a man down.
After the goal the Roar defended in numbers as they looked to repel the Victory attacks. In the 66th minute Archie Thompson dribbled superbly into the box, but went down on the challenge from Josh McCloughan. The referee saw it a dive and Thompson was booked.
In the 73rd minute Piorkowski crossed a superb ball from the right, but Allsopp's header went just wide of the goal.
Poor finishing was costing the Victory and it looked like the Roar was going to hold on for a famous victory. In the 86th minute Lia's shot from an acute angle went across the face of goal.
Two minutes Lia had space on the right again. His cross was missed by everyone, including Thompson an offside position. Allsopp made a run from deep and got to the ball quicker than the Roar defender and finally put the ball past Willis.
The Victory finally got on level terms, and escaped the humiliation of losing two weeks in a row against 10 men.
After the match Miron Bleiberg said he was a little disappointed with the result.
"After the send off if you ask me if I would be happy with a draw I would have said yes, but now I'm not so sure," Bleiberg said.
Ernie Merrick was disappointed with his teams finishing and believed this could have cost them three points.
"Unless we put away our chances we are always going to be susceptible to that [counter attack goal]," Merrick said.
The Roar will back up at Suncorp against Sydney on Friday night, while the Victory take on one of the in from teams of the A-League the Newcastle Jets.