Brisbane Roar 2 Melbourne Victory 4: Muscat´s men hit A-League summit

Melbourne Victory took advantage of 10-man Brisbane Roar to hit the A-League summit with a 4-2 triumph on Friday.

All six goals, including two penalties, and Eric Bautheac’s red card came in a frenetic first half at Suncorp Stadium.

Kosta Barbarouses bookended the scoring, with Ola Toivonen and Keisuke Honda also on target for the in-form visitors, who made it six wins on the bounce ahead of a derby with Melbourne City next weekend.

Adam Taggart’s penalty and a Toivonen own goal provided scant consolation for a Brisbane side who have just one win to their name this season.

straight and on top of the league #BRIvMVC #ALeague pic.twitter.com/WmoP9yuWMa

— Melbourne Victory (@gomvfc) December 14, 2018

The impressive James Troisi set up Barbarouses to volley Kevin Muscat’s side into a 13th-minute lead, with Bautheac dismissed soon after following a brief departure from his senses.

Having been shown a yellow card for a wild lunge on Corey Brown, he then raised his hand to Toivonen and promptly received a second booking.

Taggart levelled from the penalty spot after he was tripped by Honda, but a cool finish from Toivonen put Victory back in front.

Melbourne extended their lead when Honda converted a spot-kick awarded following a handball by Daniel Bowles, but Toivonen headed into his own net two minutes later as Brisbane reduced the deficit.

Barbarouses ensured Victory went into half-time with a two-goal cushion when he swept into the bottom-left corner after a clever short-corner routine.

The second half failed to match the drama of the first, which will have been of little concern to Muscat, who has seen his side produce a stunning reaction to losing their opening two games of the campaign.