In the clear ... Fred celebrates as his goal puts the Heart 3-0 up. Source: News Limited
Melbourne Heart coach John Aloisi has accused referee Alan Milliner of losing control of his side's controversy-packed 3-2 A-League win over Brisbane Roar at AAMI Park on Sunday.
In a match packed with twists and turns - the key ones prompted by Milliner and his linesman - the Heart threatened to squander a 3-0 lead inside the final 17 minutes after striker David Williams was sent off.
But the home side staved off the Roar, who powered back with two late Besart Berisha goals, and leapt into the top six at the Roar's expense.
| P | W | D | L | GD | Pts | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Central Coast | 15 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 15 | 33 |
| 2 | Adelaide | 15 | 9 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 29 |
| 3 | Victory | 15 | 8 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 26 |
| 4 | Western Sydney | 15 | 7 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 23 |
| 5 | Perth | 15 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 19 |
| 6 | Heart | 15 | 5 | 3 | 7 | -2 | 18 |
| 7 | Brisbane | 15 | 5 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 17 |
| 8 | Newcastle | 15 | 5 | 2 | 8 | -9 | 17 |
| 9 | Wellington | 15 | 4 | 4 | 7 | -3 | 16 |
| 10 | Sydney | 15 | 4 | 2 | 9 | -14 | 14 |
Heart's second goal to Josip Tadic was clearly offside and swung the momentum of the match the home side's way, while Williams' 67th minute send-off for a crude challenge on Ivan Franjic did the same for the Roar.
Aloisi said he had no problem with Milliner's decision to march Williams, believing the referee had got that call correct.
But he says there was a distinct lack of consistency in decisions during the match - and most watching would have found it hard to disagree.
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"In the second half in my opinion the referee lost the game a little bit, and made it difficult because he just lost control of it," Aloisi said.
"Sometimes he was giving a yellow card for no reason, and he starts to lose control ... giving little, cheap fouls that weren't really fouls - just not consistent.
"The players don't know whether they can jump for a header or go for a tackle because they give a free-kick against when in the first half he wasn't."
Roar coach Mike Mulvey said the linesman who awarded Tadic's goal had apologised to him.
"The linesman said to me as I asked him about it that he was sorry," Mulvey said, saying he had questioned the official during a break in play.
"I'm sure he must have seen the replay. It's unfortunate, but these things happen. Melbourne Heart were the better team on the day because they scored three goals to our two."
The Heart opened the scoring against the run of play after 13 minutes, when Richard Garcia unlocked the Roar's defence with a sublime ball for Williams to swoop and net.
Tadic's goal was followed just after halftime by a well-worked goal to Fred, before the Roar got a window of opportunity with Williams' straight red card.
The Heart's self-destructive tendencies, combined with Brisbane's better composure on the ball and Thomas Broich's industry in midfield, then threatened the mother of all comebacks.
Fred gave away a penalty in the 74th minute when he clumsily ploughed into Ben Halloran's back, and Berisha made no mistake.
Then Berisha struck again two minutes later when Broich set him up delightfully, but the Heart hung on.
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