Adam Le Fondre's penalty proved decisive as A-League leaders Sydney FC overcame 10-man Brisbane Roar at the Netstrata Jubilee Stadium.
The Roar were battered 5-1 in the reverse fixture six weeks ago but headed into Friday's encounter with the table-toppers on the back of a five-match unbeaten run.
It was a valiant performance on this occasion, but the game turned on its head when Scott Neville was shown a second yellow and subsequent red card for handling in the penalty area after 55 minutes.
Le Fondre emphatically hammered his spot-kick into the bottom-right corner and that proved enough to stretch Sydney's lead at the top to 13 points with a 1-0 victory.
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Sydney had another penalty overturned by VAR after it was deemed Kosta Barbarouses, tripped by Corey Brown, was marginally offside.
The outcome may have been different had Scott McDonald's header from Brown's floated cross not hit the woodwork in the first half as the Roar, who are one point adrift of the top six, fell short.