Glory missed out on the chance to climb into the top four on the Hyundai A-League ladder as Marco Rojas scored twice and Andrew Nabbout and Elvis Kamsoba also found the net to consign them to a 4-0 defeat against Melbourne Victory in Kogarah.
https://players.brightcove.net/5498268486001/default_default/index.html?videoId=6179460095001
Rojas blasted home the opener for the navy-and-whites in the 29th minute and they doubled their lead on the hour-mark when Tarek Elrich was adjudged to have fouled Nabbout in the box and the Victory winger duly found the net from the resulting penalty.
2-0 became 3-0 nine minutes later, this time Rojas weaving his way into a shooting position and beating Liam Reddy with another crisply-struck effort from just inside the box.
And substitute Kamsoba completed the scoring in stoppage-time, moments after being introduced from the bench.
Glory, meanwhile, were unable to seriously trouble Matt Acton in the Victory goal, although Bruno Fornaroli did come agonisingly close to converting Jake Brimmer’s low cross in the first half and Osama Malik fired narrowly over late in the second.
Following the defeat, his side’s heaviest of the season, Head Coach Tony Popovic made no excuses.
https://players.brightcove.net/5498268486001/default_default/index.html?videoId=6179468622001
“We got beaten by the better team today and just weren’t good enough,” he said.
“We didn’t start well and were poor with the fundamentals.
“In challenges they seemed stronger, they were quicker to the ball and they won a lot of second balls.
“We’ve been inconsistent since we’ve been in the hub.
“We’ve had some good games and some very good moments, but today there weren’t really a lot of positives from that game or performance.
“Right now they [the players] are down and they should be down.
“Then tomorrow we’ll have to have a chat about the game and how we can change those inconsistencies.
“We have to give credit to Victory, though; they did everything well, they punished us and thoroughly deserved their victory.”
During an evenly-fought opening to the game, Victory created the first chance on 15 minutes, Luis Lawrie-Lattanzio shooting wide after Glory had struggled to clear a cross from Adama Traore.
The men in purple responded in kind with an angled drive from James Meredith which fizzed over the bar, but Grant Brebner’s side drew first blood soon after.
Brimming with confidence having scored twice against the Mariners last time out, Rojas picked up possession some 30 metres from goal, drove towards the box and unleashed a spectacular strike into the top corner.
Although Fornaroli then narrowly failed to restore parity as Brimmer’s cross just eluded him, there was a further scare for Glory on the stroke of half-time when Nabbout bore down on goal only to flash his shot narrowly wide.
Nabbout was not to be denied 15 minutes into the second-half, however, calmly sending Reddy the wrong way from the penalty spot after Elrich was adjudged to have caught him late.
Once Rojas added the third, any hopes of a Glory fightback were all but extinguished, the nearest they came to claiming a consolation being when Malik lifted his close-range shot over the bar with ten minutes left.
And it was left to Victory to have the final word as Kamsoba combine to good effect with fellow-substitute Lleyton Brooks before rattling home his side’s fourth of the game.
https://players.brightcove.net/5498268486001/default_default/index.html?videoId=6179455162001
Match Details
Perth Glory 0 Melbourne Victory 4 (Rojas 29′, 69′ Nabbout (pen) 60′, Kamsoba 90+1′)
Half-Time: 0-1
Netstrata Jubilee Stadium, Kogarah
Referee: Chris Beath
Assistant Referee 1: Owen Goldrick
Assistant Referee 2: Greg Taylor
Fourth Official: Alex King
Perth Glory: 33.Liam REDDY (GK), 7.Joel CHIANESE (3.Jacob TRATT 73′), 8.James MEREDITH (23.Dane INGHAM 54′), 9.Bruno FORNAROLI, 13.Osama MALIK, 16.Tomislav MRCELA, 20.Jake BRIMMER (25.Carlo ARMIENTO 59′), 21.Tarek ELRICH, 27.JUANDE, 28.Gabriel POPOVIC (18.Nick D’AGOSTINO 54′), 88.Neil KILKENNY (C) (22.Vince LIA 71′)
Substitutes not used: 50.Daniel MARGUSH (GK), 61.Yianni PERKATIS
Yellow Cards: Fornaroli
Red Cards: None
Melbourne Victory: 1.Matt ACTON (gk), 2.Storm ROUX, 4.James DONACHIE, 6.Leigh BROXHAM (c), 9.Andrew NABBOUT, 13.Birkan KIRDAR, 21.Adama TRAORE (38.So NISHIKAWA 81′), 23.Marco ROJAS (17.Elvis KAMSOBA 89′), 26.Jay BARNETT (18.Migjen BASHA 89′), 31.Aaron ANDERSON, 43.Luis LAWRIE-LATTANZIO (39.Lleyton BROOKS 69′)
Substitutes not used: 15.Giancarlo GALLIFUOCO, 16.Josh HOPE, 30.Matthew SUTTON (gk)
Yellow Cards: Rojas, Kirdar
Red Cards: None
#OneGlory
