Perth Glory 2-0 Sydney FC: Sky Blues Denied Top Spot

Perth Glory 2 – 0 Sydney FC, Lineups/Stats
A-League, Fixtures/Results

A solid Perth Glory outfit have ground out a tough 2-0 win over Sydney FC during round 15 A-League action at Members Equity Bank Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

Both teams were fighting for something important this week. Sydney were vying to hit outright first on the ladder after Melbourne’s victory over Brisbane on Saturday, whilst Perth were hoping to stay in touch with the pace-setters by creating a comfortable gap ahead of the other top 6 hopefuls.

Former Glory skipper Simon Colosimo was returning to ME Bank Stadium for the first time since leaving the club at the end of the 2007/2008 season, and he was welcomed with a cold reception from his former admirers as neither side could get a shot on goal within the opening ten minutes.

But it was Colosimo’s new side that seemed to have the better run of possession after this dry spell, with danger-man Alex Brosque splitting through the defence and crossing the ball to Karol Kisel, who took a flying shot that was bravely defended by Andy Todd to deny the Sky Blues from inflicting any damage.

Sydney were close to scoring again moments later, as Kisel took a scorcher from outside the box, only to see Perth ‘keeper Tando Velaphi tip the ball over the net at the last moment.

The visitors were trying to take control of the game, but poor finishing seemed to be preventing them from scoring. Nothing emphasised this better than in the 27th minute, when South-Korean international Sung-Hwan Byun delivered a well-weighted free kick to striker Mark Bridge, who hit a clear ball that missed everything.

Brosque, Kisel, and Brendan Gan continued to penetrate the Glory goal-line, but frustration set in as no-one could make the breakthrough. Brosque let a golden opportunity slip through his fingers just before half-time, when he sent the ball wide of the target after being one-out with Velaphi.

A lackluster opening stanza ended with both sides going into the sheds unable to find themselves on the scoreboard.

The second half seemed to pick up where it left off, with the Glory giving their opposition a lot of room to work with; but this time around it was the home-side who looked the more dangerous, as substitute Mile Sterjovski tried to finesse the ball into the corner of the net early on, but saw his shot go wide.

Perth’s change in attacking mentality eventually made Sydney pay for their inability to capitalise on opportunities created, with Jamie Coyne sending a deflected cross in the 57th minute to Scott Bulloch, who dived onto the ball and slotted it into the back of the net to give his men the lead, before being substituted straight after.

With the deadlock finally broken, both sides seemed to pick up the pace of the match, with the Glory trying desperately for a second, through Branko Jelic’s efforts, whilst the Sky Blues were searching aimlessly for an equaliser.

It was end-to-end play during the final ten minutes, with Coyne continuing to be a threat to Sydney, making a blistering run through a stagnant Sydney defence, only to be denied at the final hurdle by a stretching Clint Bolton.

Perth were able to seal the victory in the 88th minute as Sterjovski ran into the box to draw Bolton out, before sliding the ball across to Jelic, who made no mistake to finish off a lovely team goal.

The win tonight pushes the Glory up into fifth spot as they remain a threat for the premiership after snapping a four-match winless streak, whilst Sydney are stuck in second position, pondering what should have been.

Omar Dabbagh, Goal.com