Sydney FC edged out Brisbane Roar 5-4 in a thrilling contest at the Allianz Stadium this morning to move up to second place in the A-League ladder.
The Sky Blues prevailed by the odd goal in nine to climb to within one point of leaders Wellington Phoenix at the summit, while an out-of-luck Roar side remain just outside the top six.
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It took just five minutes of the game for Henrique Andrade Silva to open the scoring for the visitors after latching onto Jean Carlos Soloranzo's through ball and coolly converting into the back of the net.
Matthew Jurman fired home a fine strike less than two minutes later to level things up in Sydney and, following on the back of a strong spell of pressure, the hosts managed to turn the contest on its head thanks to Marc Janko's opening goal of the contest.
The Austrian forward stepped up to convert from the spot after Alex Brosque was brought down inside the area, scoring for the seventh game in succession in the process.
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Janko then added two more goals to seemingly put the game out of Brisbane's reach, first tapping home from close range to become Sydney's highest ever goalscorer in a single A-League season, before rounding off his hat-trick from the penalty spot after himself being bundled over inside the box.
Andrija Kaludjerovic kickstarted an unlikely comeback for the Orange by burying third spot kick of a hugely entertaining game high into the net, and there was a lot more drama still to come in the final stages.
With 84 minutes on the clock, Steven Lustica smashed a shot into the bottom corner from the edge of the box to leave Sydney holding on to the slenderest of leads, although Brosque rounded off a decent team move to extend his side's advantage to two goals once more.
Despite Dimitri Petratos's best efforts at the death, it proved to be too much to ask of Roar who could not muster one more opening in the remaining seconds to fall to their first defeat since the competition's resumption.
Daniel Lewis
