Brisbane Roar 1 Western Sydney Wanderers 1 (6-5 pens): Super sub Young pulls off penalty heroics
Jamie Young came on as a substitute in extra-time and earned Brisbane Roar a penalty shoot-out win over 10-man Western Sydney Wanderers.
Penalty heroics by substitute goalkeeper Jamie Young earned Brisbane Roar a place in the A-League semi-finals after a 1-1 extra-time draw against 10-man Western Sydney Wanderers.
Terry Antonis gave the visitors the lead from the penalty spot on the cusp of half-time, but Brisbane levelled the Elimination match through top-scorer Jamie Maclaren and Wanderers had Jaushua Sotirio sent-off in a dramatic half-hour of extra time.
After 11 flawless penalties, Young saved Jumpei Kusukami's spot-kick to secure Brisbane's place in the semi-finals, where they will face Melbourne Victory.
Brisbane found themselves on the back foot from the outset, and Michael Theo had to make a fine double-save to prevent Nico Martinez from opening the scoring after five minutes.
Brett Holman went close with a powerful drive from just outside the penalty area after 13 minutes as Brisbane began to gain a foothold in the game.
But the visitors were soon back on top and Theo made another good save from Martinez before Avraam Papadopoulos brought down Brendon Santalab in the penalty area and Antonis buried the spot-kick into the bottom left corner of the net.
Brisbane equalised against the run of play after 54 minutes when Joe Caletti's shot rebounded off the post and Maclaren was on hand to tuck the ball into an empty net.
Get FourFourTwo Newsletter
The best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week.
A collision between Kearyn Baccus and Theo in the first half of extra-time left both players unable to continue, and oncoming replacement Young made a superb save within seconds of coming on, turning Santalab's close-range blast over the crossbar.
Five minutes later Wanderers were reduced to 10 men when substitute Sotirio was sent-off for a second bookable offence after a clumsy challenge on Corey Brown, but neither side could force a winner and the game went to penalties.
After successful penalties by Brandon Borrello, Nicholas D'Agostino, Maclaren, Luke De Vere, Thomas Kristensen and Tommy Oar, Young guessed correctly and dived to his left to save from Jumpei and send jubilant Brisbane through to the semis.
‘Arteta, Alonso, Emery, me… none of us were physical players – we needed the understanding of the game. That probably helped us move into management’: Premier League boss reveals reasons for natural career progression
‘England have the players to win the World Cup – it’ll be tough for Thomas Tuchel to do a bad job, with the squad he has at his disposal’ Former Three Lions winger backs new boss after gentle qualifying draw