Soccer: Melbourne fight back for gripping draw

MELBOURNE - A-League champions Melbourne Victory clawed back from two goals down to snatch a thrilling 3-3 draw with Brisbane Roar at Etihad Stadium last night.

On a night it rained stunning goals, Victory midfielder Carlos Hernandez provided the two best and most important to give his side their first point of the new season.

The Roar twice led by two goals, and held a 3-1 advantage going into the final half-hour of the match.

The Victory's reshuffled defence to cover the loss of skipper Kevin Muscat was found badly wanting in the first half, leaking three goals in 15 minutes to leave the champions in disarray.

A killer Danny Tiatto strike from 25 metres out on 22 minutes got the ball rolling for the Roar.

Then two minutes later a sloppy square pass from stand-in skipper Rodrigo Vargas was seized upon by Roar winger Henrique, who drove into the penalty area and was brought down by Victory centre-back Matthew Kemp.

Sergio van Dijk slotted home the penalty to make it 2-0 for the Roar.

Melbourne replied in the 33rd minute with a wonder strike of their own - Hernandez letting rip a thunderbolt into the top right-hand corner.

But four minutes later, the Victory's defence again was caught disorganised and de-trousered accordingly.

The ever-dangerous Henrique beat two defenders, then finished neatly to give his side a 3-1 halftime lead.

Some structural and personnel changes helped the Victory regroup, while the Roar lost Tiatto who limped off just before halftime.

Melbourne moved to a back-three and looked far more comfortable, with Kemp dispatched further up the park as a right wing-back and substitutes Billy Celeski and Ney Fabiano providing more attacking grunt in dangerous areas.

The moves bore fruit in the 63rd minute when striker Danny Allsopp launched a sweet left-foot volley to reduce the deficit to 3-2.

Then Hernandez struck again - thumping an unstoppable 25-metre free-kick into the far corner to grab a point for his side.

Both teams had chances to take all three points - Roar goalkeeper Liam Reddy making two outstanding late saves to deny Victory's Fabiano and Archie Thompson.

- AAP