Melbourne Victory have moved three points clear at the top of the A-League table with a 2-1 win away at Brisbane Roar.
Victory started the stronger of the two sides, and after building some momentum during the opening 15 minutes, they took the lead when Carl Valeri drilled a 20-yard strike into the bottom corner.
Five minutes later, Besart Berisha marked his 100th appearance for Victory with a goal against his former club. After controlling a pass from Fahid Ben Khalfallah, the Albanian forward fired his effort through the goalkeeper's legs from inside the penalty area.
On the half-hour mark, it was almost 3-0 when Kosta Barbarouses was denied from close range by Jamie Young, before at the other end, Andrija Kaluderovic's low drive was kept out by Lawrence Thomas.
Five minutes after the restart, Brisbane halved the deficit when Matt McKay applied the finishing touches to a fine cut-back from Kaluderovic to set up a competitive second half.
Both teams showed plenty of ambition but chances were few and far between, which suited Melbourne who were looking to open up a clear advantage over their rivals.
Roar got themselves into threatening positions as the match drew to a close, but Victory held on to register their fifth away success of the campaign.
Darren Plant
