Brisbane have ramped up the battle for sixth spot in the A-League with a 2-1 away win over the Western Sydney Wanderers at Bankwest Stadium on Friday night.
The Roar, sitting in seventh spot, moved to within two points of the sixth-placed Wanderers, with three games in hand, while Western United in eighth are five points behind Western Sydney having played four fewer matches.
Riku Danzaki scored his third goal in as many matches to notch what turned out to be the winning goal in first-half added time.
It was back-to-back success for Brisbane following eight matches without a victory, while the Wanderers went a fifth game without a win.
WSW pressed hard in the final half hour but Brisbane goalkeeper Jamie Young produced a number of saves to preserve his side's lead, and Roar defenders made some crucial blocks.
Two Wanderers substitutes combined to create a good chance with Kwame Yeboah's header from a Daniel Wilmering cross pushed away by Young.
The veteran keeper pulled off a even better stop with a reflex save to keep out a close-range Dylan McGowan shot and in added time denied Bruce Kamau.
Substitute Alex Parsons almost extended Brisbane's lead on a rare breakout, but had a fine shot pushed away by Wanderers goalkeeper Daniel Margush and another blaze over the bar.
Josh Brindell-South scored his first A-League goal in the 18th minute to put the visitors ahead, drilling home the rebound after Margush pushed away an effort from Dylan Wenzel-Halls.
Wenzel-Halls missed a glorious opportunity to double the lead when he headed a Corey Brown cross over from five metres.
Within a minute, Western Sydney equalised after Mitchell Duke pounced on the loose ball following a collision between Brisbane defenders Tom Aldred and Scott Neville, played it through to Simon Cox who quickly passed to Kamau to slot past Young.
Roar captain Aldred came off and handed the armband to Jay O'Shea, who almost put his side ahead in remarkable circumstances in the 43rd minute.
The Roar's Irish midfielder Jay O'Shea hit the crossbar from just on halfway, but it was a brief reprieve as Brisbane hit the front in the second minute of first-half added time.
Joe Champness delivered a magnificent pass across the penalty area to Danzaki, who swept the ball home.
Western Sydney's Duke headed over twice in the first four minutes of the second half while Brisbane's Macaulay Gillesphey also put one over the bar, and forced a save from Margush with another header.
