A 10-man Perth Glory scored twice in the final 20 minutes to snatch a much deserved point in a dramatic 2-2 draw with Melbourne Victory at Etihad Stadium on Sunday.
A 10-man Perth Glory scored twice in the final 20 minutes to snatch a much deserved point in a dramatic 2-2 draw with Melbourne Victory at Etihad Stadium on Sunday.
Perth – who had Liam Miller sent off in the first half – and a wrong penalty decision go against them, still fought back despite early goals in the second half from Carlos Hernandez and Danny Allsopp. However, Andrezinho’s sublime free-kick gave the visitors a fighting chance.
And then with three minutes remaining, Perth kept fighting and grabbed an incredible equaliser when Shane Smeltz headed home at the back post.
Glory boss Ian Ferguson responded to a 1-0 home defeat against Sydney FC by replacing Andrezinho with Mile Sterjovski in the starting line-up and it was the latter who nearly saw his corner headed in for an early goal.
Adam Hughes rose highest to meet the corner but he saw his glancing header come back off the crossbar, and Perth gave the hosts another scare just moments later when Josh Mitchell had a chance to head home from six yards, although his effort failed to trouble Victory goalkeeper Ante Covic after an impressive Glory move.
The match swung in Melbourne’s favour after 37 minutes when Miller was handed a straight red card after he felled Archie Thompson to stop a swift Victory counter-attack.
Miller did not appear to be the last man after Bas van den Brink had rushed back in support but referee Chris Beath still sent the former Celtic and Manchester United midfielder from the field.
Eight minutes into the second half, it got worse for Perth Glory when the referee made a horrible mistake and awarded the Victory a penalty.
Glory defender Bas van den Brink clearly won the ball in a challange with Thompson but incredibly the referee awarded the spot-kick to stun everyone in the stadium.
Hernandez converted the penalty and five minutes later, the Victory doubled their lead when Allsopp poked home from three yards.
Hernandez’s corner was headed into the ground by Roddy Vargas and Allsopp reacted quickest, beating Mitchell to the loose ball to score first goal of the season.
Perth did mount a response though, with substitute Andrezinho scoring a brilliant set-piece just moments after he was introduced.
The Brazilian curled a left-foot shot over the Victory wall and despite the best efforts of Covic, who did get a hand to the ball, Glory had drawn a goal back.
Perth continued to press forward and take the game on and their endeavour was rewarded three minutes from time when Todd Howarth picked out Smeltz at the back post with a terrific cross.
Melbourne Victory 2
(Hernandez 53(pen), Allsopp 58)
Perth Glory 2
(Andrezinho 71, Smeltz 87)
