Perth Glory coach Dave Mitchell has quickly turned his focus to Tuesday’s match against Adelaide, following a 6-2 loss to Melbourne Victory at Etihad stadium.
Perth Glory coach Dave Mitchell has quickly turned his focus to Tuesday-s match against Adelaide, following a 6-2 loss to Melbourne Victory at Etihad stadium.
“This game-s gone, it was a shocker.
“We are bitterly disappointed with some elementary errors in defence and mistakes we made,” Mitchell said.
Robbie Kruse was the hero for Melbourne with a hat-trick in the first half. Kruse found the back of the net in the 12th, 26th and 39th minute of the game to help Melbourne to a 4-1 lead at half-time.
A wonderful solo run from Mile Sterjovski got the Glory back into the game eight minutes after the break but the Victory had the answers.
A penalty from Kevin Muscat on 80 minutes, and then a sixth from Carlos Hernandez two minutes later handed Perth its heaviest loss for the season.
Perth Glory captain Jacob Burns said the players accept full responsibility.
“Sometimes in football you have to hold your hand up, and we got what we deserved today.
“They were on song and we didn-t match them all over the park,” he said.
Melbourne got off to a flyer with Archie Thompson on target after only 4 minutes.
His goal was followed by Kruse-s first, before Perth pulled one back.
Burns- corner was headed goal bound by Jamie Harnwell, before Rodrigo Vargas turned the ball into his own net.
The Victory then scored the goal of the game when a cross field volley from Nick Ward was flicked down by Archie Thompson. Tom Podeljak-s cross was neatly tucked away by Kruse before the young forward got his third from a terrible defensive lapse.
Perth did play a lot better in the second half and almost got the score back to 4-3 but Victory keeper Mitchell Langerak pulled off a stunning save from Scott Bulloch-s strike.
Dave Mitchell refused to blame the poor surface at Etihad Stadium for Perth-s performance.
“We did not want the game to go ahead, but that is no excuse for the result.
“The surface was the same for both sides,” Mitchell said.
Perth will now face Adelaide at Hindmarsh stadium on Tuesday.
“The reality is in a couple of days we-ve got the chance to put it right,” Burns said.
Chris Coyne was replaced by new signing Danny McBreen after 38 minutes.
The Socceroo defender said he struggled for energy during the match.
Hyundai A-League 2009/10 – Round 23
Melbourne Victory 6: THOMPSON 4-, KRUSE 12-, 26-,39-, MUSCAT (pen) 81-, HERNANDEZ 83-.
Perth Glory 2: Vargas (own goal) 20-, STERJOVSKI 53-
Saturday, 16 January 2010 at Etihad Stadium, Melbourne
Referee: Strebre Delovski
Assistant Referees: Hakan Anaz, Shaun Evans
Fourth Official: Alex Azcurra
Crowd: 20,448
Perth Glory: 1.Tando VELAPHI (gk), 3.Jamie COYNE, 4.Andy TODD, 5. Jamie HARNWELL (11.Branko JELIC 68-), 6.Chris COYNE (2.Danny McBreen 38-), 7.Jacob BURNS (c), 12.Scott NEVILLE, 16.Adriano PELLEGRINO, 17.Todd HOWARTH, 19.Naum SEKULOVSKI (13.Scott BULLOCH 70-), 21.Mile STERJOVSKI.
Substitutes not used: 20.Aleks VRTESKI (gk),
Yellow cards: Jamie HARNWELL 32-, Chris COYNE 35-
Red cards: Nil
Melbourne Victory:1.Mitchell LANGERAK (gk), 2.Kevin MUSCAT (c), 6.Leigh BROXHAM, 8.Grant BREBNER, 10.Archie THOMPSON, 12.Rodrigo VARGAS, 15.Tom PONDELJAK, 16.Carlos HERNANDEZ (25.Aziz BEHICH 84-), , 21.Robbie KRUSE (26.Marvin ANGULO 71-), 22.Nick WARD (17.Matthew FOSCHINI 65-), 23.Adrian LEIJER.
Substitutes not used:20.Glen MOSS (gk),
Yellow cards: Nil
Red cards: Nil
