Injury was added to insult for the Western Sydney Wanderers on Saturday night after a lacklustre 2-0 loss at home to Brisbane Roar in front of a disappointing home crowd of just over 8000 was compounded by the potential loss of two starting forwards.
The Wanderers now head into next week's Sydney derby still searching for their first win since the opening round and with injuries for winger Jaushua Sotirio and a peculiar strain for marquee Oriol Riera. The pair are in doubt for the home match against Sydney FC after being forced off in the first half, testing the depth of the Wanderers' attacking stocks, which have scored just once in their last three games.
The Wanderers left ANZ Stadium empty-handed despite showing plenty of promise, falling victim to two classy goals against the run of play as Brisbane striker Massimo Maccarone opened the visitors' account with a powerful volley before former Australian international Ivan Franjic sealed the win with a superb curling effort.
It made for a sombre finale to a match that began so brightly for the Wanderers, with some of the most promising signs of the attacking philosophy of new coach Josep Gombau on display early.
Riera looked the most likely to provide the breakthrough and his free header in the sixth minute should have been turned into the net by the big Spaniard before a powerful long-range shot 10 minutes later put Brisbane goalkeeper Jamie Young on notice.
However, that was the last contribution for the dangerous striker, who dramatically brought himself off the field, grabbed his jacket from the bench, and marched straight down the tunnel without the assistance of support staff from the Wanderers in the 18th minute. He received treatment from a physio inside the change rooms and emerged shortly after showered and dressed in his suit sitting in the stands, rather than on the bench as per custom for substituted players.
"He felt that he was injured and just came and said that he can not continue. Probably will be an injury - a strain - but we will check tomorrow. We don't know [what kind of strain]," Gombau said. "He's injured and he cannot help the team. For me not any problem [that Riera went to the stands]."
The Wanderers' bid to break their winless streak suffered another blow in the 35th minute when Sotirio came off with a soft-tissue injury. With no other forward options on the bench, he was replaced by fullback Jack Clisby, forcing a tactical reshuffle.
Shortly after, the Roar inflicted a sucker-punch. Maccarone was left unmarked inside the box and seized on the generosity of the Wanderers defenders, lashing a fierce volley into the back of the net with such pace that Vedran Janjetovic had no hope of preventing Brisbane taking the lead.
The Wanderers thought they should have been given a lifeline from the spot immediately after the restart when Santalab went down inside the box only for referee Adam Fielding to wave play on.
Spanish playmaker Alvaro Cejudo was the Wanderers' best on attack. His gifted footwork and intelligent movement was a constant threat for Brisbane's defenders but he let the visitors off the hook with a shot from the edge of the box that was sent straight into the arms of Young.
With just his third touch of the game, substitute Franjic inflicted a body blow on the Wanderers to seal the win for Brisbane. Seconds after coming on, Franjic controlled a pass inside the box, beat a marker with his second touch and with his third fired a curling shot with his less-favoured left foot into the corner of the net.
The stunning goal drained confidence from the Wanderers. Their attacking raids lacked the direction they had displayed to start the match and their possession in the final stanza was ad-hoc rather than the purposeful.
While there were few times the Wanderers did get behind Brisbane's defence, they were then let down by a poor final delivery. The Wanderers now drop to eighth on the table.
