Sydney goalkeeper Liam Reddy pulled off a series of stunning saves to hand the Sky Blues a 1-0 A-League triumph over Perth Glory on Saturday night.
Striker Mark Bridge poked home the winner in first-half stoppage time but it was Reddy who was the hero as Sydney surged into second spot on the table courtesy of their third win of the season.
In a dramatic finish, Glory goalkeeper Danny Vukovic almost headed home the equaliser in injury time, only for Reddy to tip his effort over the crossbar.
The Glory, who have now lost three games on the trot, were unlucky not to at least get a draw after completely dominating the second half.
On the one occasion when Reddy was beaten Glory midfielder Adam Hughes was left despondent after watching his long-range strike cannon off the woodwork.
Perth striker Shane Smeltz had three golden chances in the second half but fired all wide in a frustrating night for the New Zealand marksman.
To add injury to insult, Perth midfielder Travis Dodd damaged his hamstring in the 85th minute.
Former Glory skipper Jamie Coyne received some boos with his first touch of the ball but Sydney had the first laugh courtesy of some beautiful interplay between Bridge and Nicky Carle.
A surging Carle, after receiving a pin-point cross from Bridge, turned Glory defender Josh Risdon inside-out before squaring the ball across goal.
Bridge, who had continued his run into the box, fended off an opponent to poke the ball into the back of the net, silencing the 9046 crowd.
The Glory’s best chance of the half fell to Liam Miller, whose weak low drive was well saved by Reddy.
With prized Sydney recruit Brett Emerton away on Socceroos duty, emerging star Terry Antonis provided the early spark for the visitors.
But it was all Perth in a one-sided second half.
The 56th-minute introduction of Glory playmakers Dodd and Mile Sterjovski worked wonders for the home side, with Dodd’s menacing runs down the left proving particularly worrying for Sydney’s defence.
But the Glory couldn’t find a way past Reddy, who tipped over Bas van den Brink’s header before diving full length to palm away a stinging strike from Liam Miller in a busy second half for the custodian.
Glory coach Ian Ferguson and Jamie Coyne were involved in a heated exchange of words after the match, but Ferguson played down the incident.
“That’s football mate. Heat of the moment stuff. Things get said. I’ll keep that private between me and Jamie Coyne,” Ferguson said.
“It’s the same with players and coaches. We all have agreements and disagreements.”
Sydney coach Vitezslav Lavicka praised the efforts of Reddy.
“He’s shown a great performance and did a couple of great saves, especially in the second half when we were under pressure,” Lavicka said.
“The effort from our team was brilliant.
“It was a very important three points for us tonight.”
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