Adam Taggart buried a super injury-time header to earn Brisbane Roar a remarkable 2-2 comeback draw against Western Sydney Wanderers in Friday night’s Hyundai A-League clash.
Brisbane were seemingly dead and buried having conceded two opening half goals to Roly Bonevacia and Kwame Yeboah.
But Tobias Mikkelsen restored parity in the second minute of stoppage time to hand Roar a lifeline, leaving Taggart to capitalise and steal an unbelievable last-ditch draw.
The Wanderers appeared destined to emerge victorious in what was a likely fight for survival in this season’s finals series race until an inexplicable lapse from goalkeeper Vedran Janjetovic earned Roar a corner kick in the dying embers.
That saw Taggart rise highest and plant an unstoppable effort past the Western Sydney gloveman to keep Roar’s top-six aspirations hanging by a thread.
Outside of ex-club Phoenix, Brisbane were the only Hyundai A-League team against whom Roly Bonevacia had failed to score prior to kick off.
But the 27-year-old needed just 18 minutes to buck that trend when he latched onto Brendan Hamill’s ball over the top and lashed a fierce strike past Young at the near post.
That sparked Markus Babbel’s side to play with a confident swagger, encapsulated by the lovely piece of striking play from Yeboah which doubled Western Sydney’s lead on the cusp of half time.
Yeboah’s sensational turn and finish after Bruce Kamau’s cutback looked like a dagger to the hearts of the Roar faithful, who had first witnessed the young forward burst onto the scene in Brisbane back in 2013.
He was withdrawn shortly into the second half sporting a hip complaint, but and although his absence did little to inspire signs of a turnaround, Babbel and the Wanderers were left floored by yet another late capitulation.
