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Brisbane re-ignited their A-League finals aspirations and ruined Sydney's chance to move back into first place following a 1-0 win at Suncorp Stadium.
The night seemed destined to end in frustration for the Roar until the 88th minute, when a shot from Luke DeVere deflected off Sergio van Dijk to give the Queensland club their first win since December 19.
The result lifted Brisbane to 30 points, just three behind sixth-placed Perth with two rounds remaining, while the sky blues missed the opportunity to leapfrog Melbourne and the Gold Coast back into first place.
The match ended up being a harrowing experience for Dutch great Patrick Kluivert, who is having a coaching crash course with the Roar.
The A-League may be a long way from the bright lights of European football, but in the first game of his two-week stopover, Kluivert watched Brisbane mentor Ange Postecoglou run the full gamut of emotions before his side clinched the victory.
At times Kluivert, Holland's all-time leading scorer, was up on his feet in sympathy with Postecoglou as the battling Roar threw everything at the title contenders until they finally broke through.
For long periods the Roar couldn't take a trick, as summed up by a 29th minute incident.
Sydney FC keeper Clint Bolton appeared lucky to stay on the field after replays indicated he handled outside the area as he tried to blunt a Reinaldo raid.
Postecoglou was filthy, kicking a water bottle under his sideline chair in frustration as Kluivert looked on.
But the Roar coach had no complaints in the 88th minute when van Dijk notched his 13th goal of the season to notch their first win in five games and keep Brisbane's finals hopes alive.
The goal had Kluivert joining Postecoglou on his feet along with the majority of the 8,613-strong crowd.
Kluivert, 33, arrived in Brisbane on Saturday morning for his fortnight stint ahead of a reported stay under Jose Mourinho at Inter Milan.
And Postecoglou needed all the help he could get - boasting only four wins from 14 games since talking over in October.
It was the end of another eventful week for Postecoglou with outspoken veteran Danny Tiatto officially being cut with the Roar, joining the likes of Craig Moore, Charlie Miller and Liam Reddy to have left since the new coach's arrival.
A clearly devastated Sydney FC captain Steve Corica felt the better team lost.
'I think we were the better team tonight,' he said.
'We had our chances and really we should have wrapped it up by halftime.
'But we get on with it - we know have two very important games at home.'
Sydney FC coach Vitezslav Lavicka was also left ruing the one that got away.
'Football is cruel but fair. They punished us a couple of minutes from the end, but Sydney players worked hard,' he said.
'There is trouble for us in this moment but they did not give up.'
Sydney FC's chances of reclaiming top spot are helped by the draw - their remaining regular season games are at home, against Perth and defending champs Melbourne.
Meanwhile, Postecoglou was happy to keep his side's slim finals hopes alive, but said there was another motivating factor behind the team.
'I spoke to the players about giving the fans something,' he said.
'Obviously we have been through a pretty tough season (and) it was our last home game so I was pretty keen for us to at least give them something.
'Hopefully some of them went home tonight happy and maybe forgot about some of the troubles we have been through.'
Postecoglou credited 'keeper Matt Ham - who repelled a Corica-inspired Sydney FC - and exciting youngster Michael Zullo for the gutsy victory.
