Western United drew 1-1 with Brisbane Roar on Friday night thanks to a late header from Aleksandar Prijovic.
The No.99 buried the chance on 78 minutes after Brisbane had taken the lead in the first half through Carlo Armiento.
The point means United is now three games unbeaten in the Isuzu UTE A-League Men ahead of a crunch match against Melbourne City in the new year.
Team News
There were to changes to the starting XI, with the headline news being Alessandro Diamanti coming in for his first start in over 10 months.
Leo Lacroix also returned to the line-up and re-joined Tomoki Imai in the heart of the defence, taking the place of Nikolai Topor-Stanley who dropped out due to suspension.
First Half
Both sides grappled for early spells of possession without too much goalmouth action at either end until a succession of corners nearly put Brisbane ahead.
The first was an in-swinger from the right-hand side that nearly went straight into the opposite corner, but Josh Risdon was on hand to head it off the goal line on the other side.
Brisbane then had the ball in the net from the resultant set-piece but Henry Hore was flagged offside as he bundled it in from close range.
United’s best look at goal came not too long after that when Lachie Wales got on the end of a Prijovic cross at the back post, but his header rolled along the goal line and just wide of the goal.
Roar continued to be the stronger of the two and were rewarded with a slick goal as Hore flicked the ball into the path of Armiento in the box, setting him up to thump the ball past Jamie Young and into the corner.
Risdon had a half-chance to equalise just a couple of minutes later but his left-footed strike went safely into the hands of Jordan Holmes, as United went into the break with a deficit to overcome.
Second Half
Nicolas Milanovic came on at half-time as United look to add energy into the attack, but Brisbane’s defensive structure remained vigilant.
The visitors were content with their lead and didn’t really put United under any consistent pressure at the other end, leaving Aloisi’s side largely frustrated in possession without any avenues to goal.
Wales remained lively down the right-wing and got the other side of Brisbane’s defence on a couple of occasions but United just couldn’t find the final ball.
That was until a slight change of shape put the Green and Black on the offensive and brought about an equaliser with just over 10 minutes to play.
Risdon moved over to the left-hand side and showed some lovely footwork to cut inside and send a teasing delivery into the box which Prijovic was on the end of, stooping to head past Holmes into the corner of the net.
Milanovic and Risdon began to work well together on the left while Dylan Pierias injected pace onto United’s right side, but a number of balls into the box were cleared by Brisbane as United pushed for a winner.
In the end that was very nearly found by Brisbane as Jordan Courtney-Perkins hit a venomous volley from distance, but Young reacting sharply to spring to his left and push the ball to safety as United had to make do with a point.
