A defiant Brisbane Roar upset the light blue applecart that was supposedly bound for the top of the table, defeating Sydney FC 1-0 at Suncorp Stadium last night.

Powered by the twin turbines of the insightful instructions of super-Dutch-guest-super-coach Patrick Kluivert and the hot air expelled by departing veteran Danny Tiatto, the Roar just could not lose.

What could Sydney FC come up with in comparison? Hayden Foxe at centre forward??

The home team gave a start to Costa Rican international Steven Bryce playing on the right of midfield and excitement machine Tommy Oar on the left. Van Dijk and Reinaldo would be the spearheads. Sydney's partnership of Brosque and Aloisi sounds equally exotic, and has the benefit of being 50% more left-footed than Brisbane's, while still being home grown.

Sydney couldn't quite match the balanced look of the Brisbane side, once again placing the very right footed Terry McFlynn on the left side of midfield.

But despite the aura of Patrick Kluivert sitting on the Roar bench (or rather taking up a spot on the row of white plastic chairs), the higher-ranked team started much the better. As usual when Sydney visit these shores, it seems that 99% of the creative play comes from the mind and boots of Steve Corica. His passing, vision and composure led to two good early opprtunities, one each to Aloisi and Brosque.

On both occasions Matt Ham in the Roal goal was equal to the task, getting down low to his left to make the stop.

It seemed there would always be another chance for Sydney, with Brosque looking especially lively early on.

But slowly the Sydney chances became fewer and the Roar began to get into the game. Oar and Bryce swapped wings in the 20th minute, and after a patient build-up involving Zullo, McKay and Collen, Reinaldo laid the ball off into the path of a surging Tommy Oar. Oar's shot sizzled along the turf, beating Bolton but not beating the post.

In the 29th minute Reinaldo's pace and persistence got him clear of the Sydney defence chasing a through ball. Bolton came out wide to meet him, but Reinaldo was first to the ball and flicked it up, trying to get the ball over the keeper. Bolton with his hands held high as a keeper does, clearly and deliberating handled the ball outside his penalty area. Referee Michael Hester waved play on. Ange Postecoglu kicked over a plastic chair. Patrick Kluivert wrote furiously in his notebook.

Sydney had another good chance, this time to Corica, set up by Brosque, before the end of the first half. And although Oar was looking dangerous for Brisbane, there wasn't much else for the locals to pin their hopes on. Sydney were handling Bryce easily down the right, and Van Dijk and Reinaldo weren't getting any room from Colosimo and Keller.

The second half began to tell another, different story.

No doubt super-mega-Dutch-coach-guest Patrick Kluivert had some astute words to say at the break, because almost immediately Michael Zullo began to involve himself more in the attack down the left side of the field.

Zullo's limitations as a left back are obvious – he dives into rash tackles, he's too small to be a good defensive header of the ball – but playing him at left back allow Postecoglu to have both his young left-footed wingers on the field at the same time. And when they gel together, they are an attacking force which A-League defences cannot counter – at least by fair means.

And so when Zullo surged past Stephan Keller in the 46th minute, the big defender just reached out and grabbed him across the shoulders. Yellow card shown.

A couple of minutes later, Shannon Cole aimed a wild hack at Oar. Yellow card shown.

Zullo might have been looking for payback seconds later when Cole was felled in a wild tackle. More yellow on display.

Amidst all this card-brandishing there was also some football, and when McFlynn cut back on his right and crossed the ball into the box, Ham and his central defenders failed to deal with it decisively. The rebound came out to Corica, who tried to pass it into the net. Ham stuck a foot out to deal with that, so Corica hit the next one harder, and a combination of Ham and Pieter Collen got the ball to safety.

Sydney were well in the ascendancy at this stage, with the Roar only getting forward on occasional counter-attacks. Sung Hwan Byun got into the box in the 60th minute and put in a powerful right foot shot which only Mat Ham's fingertips prevented from becoming the opening goal.

Strangely this shot was followed by a goalkick to Brisbane, much to Brosque's displeasure.

Goal chances began to appear with more regularity at either end. The phrase “it's anyone's game” was on the lips of fans and commentators alike.

The coaches began to ring the changes. Henrique, Dodd and Nichols all eventually join the fray for Brisbane. Payne, Grant, and last ditch centre forward Hayden Foxe all got stuck in for Sydney.

It was Henrique who was making the real contribution however. His increased mobility over the short-of-a-run Bryce was giving the Sydney defence real problems, and the locals began to sense a victory was on the cards.

Michael Zullo burst into action again with a sizzling run and shot, which Bolton parried away for a corner.

Aloisi had an acrobatic attempt which was well saved by Ham.

McKay and Oar combined well, but McKay's pass into the box wasn't read by Henrique and the ball rolled harmlessly through the box.

Substitute David Dodd had a late chance to be a hero, but smashed his shot straight at Clint Bolton.

The Roar won a corner on the right in the 85th minute, and Oar trotted across to take it. With the words of mega-super-Ajax-trained-guest-trainer Patrick Kluivert ringing in his head (“Now would be a good time to score”), he put in a wicked dipping ball. Matt McKay got to it quickest but only managed to send the ball straight up in the air. Bolton in a crowd of players attempted to punch the ball clear. It went as far as Luke de Vere who casually volleyed the ball back into the mixer.

With Van Dijk standing betwen Bolton and the ball, the volley brushed off his hip and past the keeper, lobbing into the net. Van Dijk, like the good striker he is, immediately jumped the advertising barriers and headed towards the delirious celebrating home fans, claiming the goal.

This writer, for many years a left back or central defender, awards the goal to Luke De Vere.

Brisbane Roar 1, Sydney FC 0. And soon enough the ref blew for full-time, but not before some wag in the crowd had done it first.

Who knows what this result means for the A-League title race. I certainly don't. But with super-giant-uber-coach Patrick Kluivert on-board, the only way for the Roar is up! What do you mean he's only here for a week?