Western Sydney Wanderers have hampered Brisbane Roar's chances of defending their A-League title by grabbing an emphatic 4-1 victory at Suncorp Stadium, which is their first away win of the season.
In the early stages of the first half, both sides created opportunities at either end, but that clinical touch was lacking in the final third.
The Wanderers came close to opening the scoring when Kerem Bulut broke free and unleashed a shot, which was palmed away by Jamie Young.
However, the goalkeeper didn't clear the ball too far as Labinot Haliti was able to latch on to it and needed a simple tap-in, but the ball was cleared off the line.
The away side controlled the game and were eventually rewarded when Nikita Rukavytsya slotted in the ball first time from the near post.
Brisbane looked short of ideas, but they were handed a lifeline against the run of play when Jonathan Aspropotamitis kneed the ball into his own net following a corner from Luke Brattan.
The home side's momentum didn't last long, though, as Bulut silenced the Brisbane fans by easing into the net after the ball was cut back by Romeo Castelen.
After the break, Brisbane tried to launch an early fightback when Steven Lustica found space and unleashed a shot aiming for the top corner, but his effort soared over the bar.
Despite early intent in the second half, Brisbane's comeback was halted when Castelan slammed the ball into the back of the net after it rebounded off the bottom of the crossbar.
As the game went on, fatigue started to show for the home side and Western Sydney improved their lead through Bulut, who beat Young at the near post to slot the ball into the goal with just two minutes of normal time remaining.
Danielle Joynson
