Brisbane Roar upset Sydney in ALM victory

Brisbane Roar have broken through for their first A-League Men win of the season with a 3-1 victory over a Sydney FC side that finished with 10 men.

The Roar started on fire and led 2-0 early before Sydney FC scored one back before the break at Redcliffe's Moreton Daily Stadium..

The goal of the match, and the clincher, was a 25-metre stunner from Roar substitute Josh Brindell-South in the 72nd minute that rifled into the top left corner of the net.

"He is a like a Ferrari in the garage. When he wants to take it out for a spin, he is some player," Roar coach Warren Moon said of Brindell-South.

Sydney FC substitute Paulo Retre was given a red card in the 81st minute for a deliberate foul on Riku Danzaki as he broke clear.

Sydney coach Stephen Corica said Retre had made "a bad decision" but he was not happy with the whistle that led to the Roar's first goal, alleging a dive.

The Roar attacked from the opening whistle and were awarded three free kicks inside three minutes.

Joe Knowles won a fourth free kick just outside the box on seven minutes. Jay O'Shea took the shot and hit the post, but Charlie Austin was on hand to tap in the rebound and give the Roar the lead.

"The crucial point of the game was the decision for the free kick. It was a clear dive from one of their players. The referee got that one wrong," Corica said.

Austin was in everything early and was awarded a penalty when brought down by Adrian Vlastelica.

Sydney FC goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne saved the shot but the rebound fell to Roar winger Carlo Armiento, who clinically slotted it to give the Roar a dream 2-0 lead after 13 minutes.

Anthony Caceres scored for the visitors in the 40th minute when VAR was consulted after Roar captain Tom Aldred thought he'd cleared the ball off the line, but was found to have got his boot to it too late.

Corica brought Joe Lolley on at halftime at right wing and he created plenty of promising attacking raids.

Moon pulled the masterstroke when he put winger Henry Hore on in the 69th minute.

The speedy Hore made an instant impact and linked with O'Shea, who laid it back for Brindell-South to unleash his scorcher.

"We deserved that win today. We were the better side," Moon said.

"Our intent was to get at them early and we got rewarded for a fast start."

Corica said his side was "sloppy from the start" but showed character to get back into the game.