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Perth Glory has won their first ever A-League game in Melbourne, with a 2-0 victory over the Melbourne Victory in front of 20,358 fans at AAMI Park on Saturday night.
Goals to Jamie Harnwell and Mile Sterjovski either side of half-time were enough for the Glory to take the three points. In what was a very fiery contest, the Victory dominated possession for the majority of the game but were unable to capitalize on their chances.
In what was regarded as Victory’s homecoming, Perth did what many teams haven’t, and that’s come to Melbourne with an attacking intent. The last time they came to Melbourne, they were thrashed 6-2 at the hands of the Victory, and Dave Mitchell didn’t want a repeat of that to happen.
It’s the first time the Glory has won an A-League in Melbourne, at the eighth time of asking, and they will be looking for a similar result when they travel back to Melbourne in two weeks time to take on the Heart. The win has moved them to the top of the table, at least temporarily, with one match remaining in Round 2.
Mitchell was gracious in his praise for Velaphi, who has been criticized heavily with several keeping howlers during the past two seasons.
“Last week Tando got hammered.
“Tonight he showed true class – he was outstanding,” Mitchell said.
Victory started strong and should have had the lead in the opening minutes. Adrian Leijer played in Surat Sukha, who got past the Glory defence and played a pass across the face of the goal, in which Dugandzic was only centimetres away from tapping in.
It was a hectic, end-to-end, opening and soon after Glory had their first chance of the game with Todd Howarth forcing Petkovic to tap over the bar with a nice volley.
Perth eventually un-did Melbourne mid-way through the first half when Steven McGarry cleverly cut the ball back across goal after a Robbie Fowler corner, where Harnwell was waiting to slot home from close range. The celebration was dedicated to his new-born son, Liam, who was born during the week.
“My wife was actually due tomorrow (Sunday) but she was actually induced Tuesday so she’s been pretty dedicated to the cause as well,” Harnwell said.
“Mitch (Dave Mitchell) gave me a fair bit of time off this week and when coaches do that for you, you want to reward them and hopefully I did that tonight.
“To score as well was just a dream come true. It’s been a huge week.”
Jacob Burns was lucky not to be booked, after a lunging tackle on Evan Berger in the 25th minute. It sparked a 10 minute period with tackles flying in from both sides, but the referee decided to keep the cards in his pocket.
The crowd was then furious when Grant Brebner was booked in the 35th minute, in what seemed to be a much more modest challenge in comparison with the others.
Melbourne searched for an equaliser but shots from Sukha, Leijer and Tom Pondeljak failed to tie the scores heading in to halftime.
Merrick made one change at the break, bringing off the lively Surat Sukha for Billy Celeski.
The change made little difference though, as Perth doubled their advantage in the 49th minute. Brebner made an error in midfield, which gifted the ball to Todd Howarth. While his pass to Fowler was cut-out, Sterjovski latched onto the lose ball and fired a shot past Petkovic from just outside the box.
For the rest of the second half, Melbourne lacked a cutting edge, and found it hard to carve out any real opportunities.
Their best chances in the second half were from a Carlos Hernandez free kick in the 74th minute, and a long-range strike from substitute Diogo Ferreira, which were both brilliantly saved by Velaphi.
Victory coach Ernie Merrick was happy with the quality of football his side played despite their inability to score.
“Our inter-passing was very good, our defence by and large was rock-solid, they had two shots on target of quality,” Merrick said.
“We just didn’t convert that quality possession into goals and you pay the price for it.”
Victory play North Queensland next Sunday at AAMI Park, whilst the Glory play host to Newcastle Jets on Saturday at nib Stadium.
Full Time: Melbourne Victory 0-2 Perth Glory
Crowd: 20,358 at AAMI Park
Scorers: Harnwell 23’, Sterjovski 49’
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