Perth Glory are searching for their first A-League win this season as they take on Melbourne City at the HBF Park in Perth on Sunday. The hosts have not had a good start to the season, picking up a 6-1 loss to Macarthur in their opening match, followed by a 2-0 defeat to Wellington Phoenix. They did manage to pick up a point in the goalless draw against Central Coast Mariners last week. Meanwhile, Melbourne City come into this match on the back of a 1-0 win over Western United. With two wins from three matches so far, they are fourth in the A League standings.
Perth Glory's Struggle Continues
Perth Glory's nightmarish start to the A-League Men’s season has continued as they were embarrassed 5-0 and played off the park by Melbourne City at HBF Park. Despite picking up their first point of the season last week, it proved to be a case of one step forward, two steps back as the Glory were torn to shreds by a professional City outfit. It was not simply the result against one of the best teams in the league, but the manner of the performance which should have alarm bells ringing inside the club.
The Glory’s last win came in February, they have now gone 14 matches without a victory and have scored just once and conceded 13 goals in their first four matches, an embarrassing statistic for a once-proud club. For the fourth game in a row, the Glory were outplayed as City played through them too easily, and they remain off the foot of the table only because Brisbane Roar are yet to even draw this season.
Melbourne City Dominate
Steven Ugarkovic scored twice before half-time and ran the show in midfield as the gap between Perth and the rest of the competition was clear for all to see. A horrendous mistake gifted Andres Kuen a third immediately following the restart, before Yonatan Cohen and Medin Memeti scored late to massage the margin. With Perth press only employed sparingly and disjointed when it was used, they were ripped through by Melbourne, and the hosts looked bereft of a cohesive plan with the ball. The half-time stats made grim reading for Glory fans: just 30 per cent possession, only three touches inside the opposition box and three shots — none of which were on target.
There were three changes to the Glory side which drew last week, but the warning signs were evident early for Perth, with Oli Sail having to make two good saves from Ugarkovic, the first a save low to his right and the second a reflex palm away for a corner. Luis Canga was called on to deny Memeti on the break as City looked to turn the screws on Perth, with Ugarkovic pulling the strings and breaking their attempts to press.
The deadlock was broken six minutes before half time in stupendous fashion, as Glory’s defence sat too deep and the ball rolled to Ugarkovic, who unleashed a fizzing first-time shot which beat Sail all ends up. The midfielder doubled his tally and City’s lead in the 44th minute when Perth failed to clear the ball from their own box and it spilled to Ugarkovic, who was played onside by Zach Lisolajski.
Any hopes from second half respite went up in flames when Sail whiffed a clearance straight to Kuen and he held off Nicholas Pennington before sliding the ball into an open net. Things somehow got worse for Perth when Nikola Mileusnic — a half-time substitute making his first appearance since he tweaked his hamstring in limited minutes in round one — again pulled up lame, lasting only 14 minutes before he left the field.
Amid the on-field horror, the crowd kept themselves entertained, spending a good 10 minutes chanting “we’ve got the ball” and alternating to “we’ve lost the ball” when their side inevitably coughed up possession. Adam Taggart tried to spark some life into his team, firing a shot wide from distance, but City continued to find space easily as Perth pushed men forward in search of goals.
Harry Politidis almost made it 4-0 with a low shot which rolled wide of the mark, but his teammate Cohen obliged with six minutes left when he cut in from the right and placed the ball into the net. As Perth players succumbed to cramp late, the polish was added as Memeti scored a tap-in before injury-time to cue sarcastic chants of “we want six” from The Shed End.
What Next for Perth Glory?
The question now for Perth is what next? The defeat against Melbourne City was a major blow and raises serious questions about the club's direction and the future of head coach David Zdrilic. Perth needs to find a way to turn things around quickly before their season spirals further out of control. The club needs to find a way to improve their defense, solidify their midfield, and find a way to create more scoring opportunities. The current performance will likely lead to many conversations amongst the Perth Glory hierarchy. The lack of goalscoring, and the overall defensive frailties, are issues that need to be addressed urgently. Whether Zdrilic can implement the changes necessary to right the ship remains to be seen.
Perth Glory vs Melbourne City Preview
Head Coach David Zdrilic is backing his Glory charges to take the game to Melbourne City when the two sides meet at HBF Park in Sunday’s ALW/ALM double-header. Zdrilic is quietly confident that they can build upon their performance and secure a first win of the campaign. He believes that the progression from week to week has been really good, especially after the first game. The younger guys are growing in each game and getting hard tests very quickly in the A-League, but he thinks they’ve learned their lessons and hopefully, they’ll see another big step of progression in this game against City.
Injured: Risdon, Amini
Suspended: None
Melbourne City have a long list of players out due to injury. Andrew Nabbout is the most recent player to join the list, and he is expected to be out for a while with an ACL tear. Jayden Necovski, Alessandro Lopane, Marco Tilio, Max Caputo, Harrison Shillington, Benjamin Mazzeo, Emin Durakovic, Arion Sulemani and Peter Antoniou make up the rest of a long absentee list for the trip to Perth. Despite the injury concerns, visitors Melbourne City, are likely to pick up three points from this fixture.
Melbourne City predicted XI (4-3-3, right to left): Beach (GK) — Atkinson, Souprayen, Trewin, Talbot — Ugarkovic, Schreiber, Kuen — Leckie, Politidis, Cohen.
Injured: Nabbout, Necovski, Lopane, Tilio, Caputo, Shillington, Mazzeo, Durakovic, Sulemani, Antoniou
Suspended: None
Perth Glory Look to Turn Things Around
Perth Glory will be hoping to bounce back from this heavy defeat and pick up their first win of the season. They will need to improve their defensive organization and find a way to create more scoring chances to compete with the top teams in the league. While Melbourne City are the clear favorites to win this match, Perth will be hoping to pull off an upset and gain some much-needed momentum.
