Perth Glory has rocketed to third on the A-League table after a hard- fought 2-0 win over a weary Western Sydney Wanderers at nib Stadium on Saturday night.
Chris Harold scored his second goal of the season – courtesy of a deflection off Wanderers defender Robert Cornthwaite – on the cusp on half-time before substitute Joel Chianese sealed the result in the 94th minute.
The gutsy win extended Glory’s unbeaten streak to four matches, lifting the club ahead of both Melbourne City and Brisbane Roar with six rounds to play before the finals.
Western Sydney coach Tony Popovic made eight changes to the side which lost 4-0 to Japanese club Urawa in their opening match of the Asian Champions League on Tuesday, with only Scott Neville, Jumpei Kusukami and goalkeeper Vedran Janjetovic backing up in the Perth heat.
The Wanderers, who play Shanghai SIPG in China on Tuesday, remain sixth on the ladder, two points ahead of Wellington Phoenix.
Reigning Johnny Warren medallist Diego Castro turned in another class performance, regularly running circles around the Wanderers defence and having a hand in both of Glory’s goals.
Most of Glory’s chances fell in the first half, but Kenny Lowe’s side were denied by some brilliant saves from Janjetovic.
Adam Taggart and Rostyn Griffiths both had shots blocked on the line, while at the other end of the pitch Terry Antonis saw his free kick crash off the crossbar.
Janjetovic also made a diving save to his left to prevent Rhys Williams scoring his first goal for Perth.
Williams moved into the midfield midway through the first half when Brandon Wilson was forced off with a back injury, with Aryn Williams filling the void left by his older brother at centre-back.
Glory was unlucky not to be awarded two penalties for handballs inside the box as half-time approach, with referee Jonathan Barreiro ruling Shannon Cole and Brendon Santalab did not have cases to answer.
Harold then struck in first-half stoppage time, volleying home a clever Castro cross from outside the box off Cornthwaite’s boot.
Dino Djulbic almost doubled Glory’s lead shortly after half-time, but his powerful header hit the side-netting.
Chianese iced the victory after capitalising on another piece of Castro brilliance with less than a minute before the final whistle.
Lowe said his side’s performance was the most pleasing aspect of the win.
“We did quite well in both halves, created chances, set up opportunities,” he said.
“They came to try and win the game as well, so it made for an entertaining game.”
Popovic rued the fact his side was not “physically at our best today”.
“We didn’t do enough to win the game, so in the end Perth were probably the deserved winner,” he said.
“Conceding right on half-time was a blow…it was not a good time to concede.”
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