Glory were unable to close the gap on the ISUZU UTE A-League top six on Saturday as Sydney FC ran out 2-0 winners at HBF Park.
View full match highlights HERE.
Kosta Barbarouses slid home an early opener for the Sky Blues before Patrick Yazbek doubled their lead with his first A-League goal 20 minutes from time.
That effort came shortly after after the woodwork had prevented Bruno Fornaroli from drawing Glory level and Sydney were also grateful to goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne who made a number of fine saves to preserve their lead throughout what was a lively contest.
Glory Head Coach Richard Garcia felt that it was those missed chances, allied to a slow start, which cost his side dear.
“We had enough chances to win the game, but at the same time, we can’t start in the manner that we did and give away a goal,” he said.
“We’ve been talking about behaviours and what we want out of the players and again it’s about inconsistent performance.
“We can’t start for the first 20 minutes and go off-plan and expect to win the game.
“That said, I thought they did fantastic to get back into the game, to find their feet and create chances, but we didn’t take them.
“That’s the difference at the end of the day; you have to take those chances as they change the game and the outlook of the game.
“We had a couple at the back end of that first half which we should have taken and if go in at 1-1, the mentality changes, you get a lift and they [Sydney FC] have to come out again and it changes the whole game.”
Looking to maintain an impressive record of just one defeat in their previous ten visits to HBF Park, Sydney FC made the best possible start when, just seven minutes in, Callum Talbot was released down the left and delivered a low cross into the path of the onrushing Barbarouses who made no mistake from close-range.
To their credit, Glory responded quickly to the early setback, Pacifique Niyongabire going close to restoring parity with two efforts in as many minutes.
The first saw Redmayne adjust quickly to prevent a deflected cross from creeping in at the near post and the second was a header from the winger which flashed narrowly wide.
Fornaroli was next to go close for the hosts, forcing Redmayne to make a fine save after linking up well with Andy Keogh, cutting inside and pulling the trigger.
The final chance of the first half, however, came at the other end where Barbarouses was picked out by Luciano Narsingh and somehow failed to find the net.
The goalmouth action resumed immediately at the start of the second half, Antonee Burke-Gilroy floating a chipped effort just over the bar and Rhyan Grant then popping up in the right place to clear after Redmayne had spilled a Niyongabire cross into the path of a sliding Fornaroli.
A goal for the men in purple seemed very much on the cards and it so nearly arrived on the hour-mark, Keogh and Brandon O’Neill combining neatly to create a shooting opportunity for Fornaroli whose curling effort struck the inside of the post and bounced back out.
Moments later, a shoulder injury forced skipper O’Neill from the fray and Glory’s afternoon took another turn for the worse in the 69th minute when Max Burgess picked out substitute Trent Buhagiar whose low cross was gleefully converted by Yazbek to make it 2-0 to the visitors.
Substitutes Nick Fitzgerald and Ciaran Bramwell both went close with half-chances late on, but Garcia’s side were ultimately unable to find a way past the inspired Redmayne.
Match Details
Perth Glory 0 Sydney FC 2 (Barbarouses 7′, Yazbek 69′)
Half-time: 0-1
Referee: Jack Morgan
Attendance: 4708
Perth Glory: 1.Brad JONES (GK), 7.Adrian SARDINERO (18.Daniel STYNES 57′), 9.Bruno FORNAROLI, 10.Andy KEOGH (11.Nicholas FITZGERALD 85′), 13.Brandon O’NEILL (26.Giordano COLLI 65′), 14.Jack CLISBY, 19.Callum TIMMINS, 21.Antonee BURKE-GILROY, 22.Josh RAWLINS, 24.Pacifique NIYONGABIRE (38.Ciaran BRAMWELL 85′), 29.Darryl LACHMAN
Substitutes not used: 12.Cameron COOK (GK), 5.Jonathan ASPROPOTAMITIS, 16.Darko STANOJEVIC
Yellow Cards: Burke-Gilroy, Niyongabire, Fornaroli
Red Cards: None
Sydney FC: 1.Andrew REDMAYNE (GK), 2.James DONACHIE, 4.Alex WILKINSON (C), 8.Paulo RETRE (12.Trent BUHAGIAR 58′), 11.Kosta BARBAROUSES (21.Harry VAN DE SAAG 77′), 14.Adam LE FONDRE (9.BOBO 77′), 16.Luciano NARSINGH (6.Mustafa AMINI 58′) , 22.Max BURGESS, 23.Rhyan GRANT, 25.Callum TALBOT (5.Connor O’TOOLE 87′), 32.Patrick YAZBEK
Substitutes not used: 20.Thomas HEWARD-BELLE (GK), 3.Ben WARLAND
Yellow Cards: Wilkinson, Talbot
Red Cards: None
#OneGlory
