Perth Glory FC remains in fifth spot of the Hyundai A-League ladder despite losing its Round 6 encounter 4-1 against the undefeated Sky Blues, at Allianz Stadium this afternoon.
Glory carved open Sydney’s defence several times in the first 15 minutes, and almost netted a goal but the West Australians were unable to hit the target.
A defensive mistake in the 14th minute saw Sydney’s Milos Ninkovic open the scoring after Perth’s Dino Djulbic and ‘keeper Liam Reddy didn’t deal with a seemingly simple clearance.
Seven minutes from the half-time break, Glory coughed up the ball in midfield which allowed Sydney to break leaving the Blues’ foreign legion of Ninkovic and Bobo to combine and double Sydney’s lead.
In the second half Glory lifted. Perth launched multiple waves of attack looking for a spark to claw its way back into the match.
It came after Joe Mills made a dashing run forward and struck the ball on goal which took a deflection off Sydney defender Rhyan Grant and zoomed past a stunned Danny Vukovic and into the back of the net.
But Glory’s attack minded efforts were undermined after Ninkovic got his second and Sydney’s third in the 78th minute.
Two minutes from time, as Glory threw everything forward, Sydney captain Alex Brosque finished off a team move to end the match 4-1 and secure a sixth straight win for the hosts.
Glory will be looking for three points when it hosts Hyundai A-League champions Adelaide United, who sit on the foot of the table at nib Stadium on Friday night.
Kick-off is at 7pm.
#GloryIsOurs
KEY MOMENTS
1-0 Sydney: Milos Ninkovic, 14’
This was a gift for the home side. Under pressure deep in the corner, Dino Djulbic’s attempted clearance was blocked by Ninkovic. The Serbian then chased down the loose ball, getting there just before keeper Liam Reddy, poking it past the gloveman before running the ball into an empty net.
2-0 Sydney: Bobo, 38’
Rhyan Grant dispossessed Nebo Marinkovic on halfway and played it to Alex Brosque, who then released Ninkovic to drive into the box. Ninkovic squared it to Bobo to tap in from close range.
2-1 Perth: Grant (og), 62’
Joseph Mills’ overlapping run was spotted by Keogh who played him in, with the defender’s cross deflecting off Grant’s outstretched boot to beat Danny Vukovic at his near post.
3-1 Sydney: Ninkovic, 79’
A counter attack by the Sky Blues ended with David Carney’s curling effort hitting the crossbar before falling to Ninkovic who controlled it on his chest before smashing it in.
4-1 Sydney: Brosque, 88’
Substitute Matt Simon was heavily involved, first teeing up Carney’s shot which was blocked before passing to Brosque who played the ball around Reddy and slotting it home.
SYDNEY FC:
4. Alex WILKINSON, 5. Matthew JURMAN, 6. Joshua BRILLANTE, 7. Michael ZULLO, 9.BOBO (73’ 18. Matt SIMON0), 10.Milos NINKOVIC, 13. Brandon O’NEIL, 14. Alex BROSQUE (C) (90’ 22. Sebastian RYALL), 20.Danny VUKOVIC (GK) 21. Filip HOLOSKO (67’ 17. David CARNEY), 23. Rhyan GRANT
Unused Substitutes: 8. Milos DIMITREJIVIC, 30. Mitch EVANS
PERTH GLORY FC
2.Alex GRANT. 5. Rhys WILLIAMS, 6. Dino DJULBIC, 8. Rostyn GRIFFITHS (78 4. Shane LOWRY), 9. Andy KEOGH, 10. Nebo MARINKOVIC, 14. Chris HAROLD (54’ 7. Joel Chianese), 16. Joseph MILLS, 17. Diego CASTRO, 24. Milan SMILJANIC, 33. Liam REDDY
Unused Substitutes: 13. Nick FEELY, 20. Aryn WILLIAMS, 23. Kosta PETRATOS
