FAHID Ben Khalfallah has made a strong case to retain Brisbane’s playmaker role permanently following his impressive display in the Roar’s 2-1 weekend away win over Adelaide United.
Shifted from his usual wing role to the central attacking midfield position, Ben Khalfallah produced a man-of-the-match performance, scoring a goal and setting up another for Massimo Maccarone to propel the Roar to just their third win of the season.
First-choice playmaker Brett Holman is a chance to return from a calf injury when Brisbane host Western Sydney Wanderers on Friday night at Suncorp Stadium, as is another of the Roar’s “No. 10” options, Nick D’Agostino, who missed the trip to Adelaide because of an ankle problem.
But Ben Khalfallah will be hard to dislodge from the play-making position, particularly with his combination with Maccarone starting to flourish.
The 35-year-old former Tunisian international is providing the service Maccarone has been crying out for.
The veteran Italian international striker has now scored seven goals this season, including four in his past five matches.
“Ben Khalfallah and Maccarone are getting better and better working together,” Roar coach John Aloisi said.
“They didn’t get the chance to form an understanding during the pre-season because Ben Khalfallah missed a lot of it, so it was always going to take some time.
“He (Ben Khalfallah) loves being on the ball and playing in that central role.”
The Roar will need to find a midfield replacement for skipper Matt McKay on Friday night after his sending off against Adelaide.
McKay will miss at least one match and there’s a chance the suspension could be longer when the incident that led to the send-off is studied by the A-League’s match review panel.
Initially given a yellow card by referee Adam Fielding for lashing out with his boot at Adelaide’s Nikola Mileusnic in first-half stoppage time, McKay was then shown a red card following intervention from video assistant referee Craig Zetter.
A-League boss Greg O’Rourke on Sunday explained that despite Fielding already having dealt with the matter by booking McKay, Zetter was correct to intervene after viewing the footage because an obvious error had been made as McKay’s act was one of “violent conduct”.
It was the sixth time in an A-League career spanning 235 appearances that McKay had been sent off.
Mitchell Oxborrow looms as the man to fill McKay’s shoes against the Wanderers after a solid second-half weekend display following his 46th-minute introduction into the contest.
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