Goals from centre-backs Gregory Wuthrich and Alex Grant fired Glory to a deserved 2-0 victory over Western Sydney Wanderers at HBF Park.
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Building upon last week’s impressive away win at Melbourne City, Tony Popovic’s men controlled the game for long periods and were rarely threatened after Wuthrich headed them into the lead with 18 minutes played.
Alex Grant then emulated his central defensive partner midway through the second half, firing home through a crowded box to make it 2-0, before racing over to The Shed to celebrate.
The win, Glory’s first at home this season, lifted Tony Popovic’s men to fifth on the ladder and the Head Coach was especially pleased for the home members and fans.
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“It was nice to send the fans home happy given that they were tough conditions for them to come out in today,” he said.
“We’re delighted for our members and fans. It’s another clean sheet, we defended in general play very well as a unit and I think that’s improving.
“We looked solid and overall it was a good home result.”
Despite the sweltering conditions, the game got off to a pulsating start as Wanderers’ top-scorer Mitchell Duke clipped the top of Glory’s bar with a curling effort from just outside the box.
The home side responded by creating a decent chance of their own, Chris Ikonomidis drawing a save from Nicholas Suman after meeting Ivan Franjic’s cross with a diving header and moments later the Wanderers ‘keeper was called into action again, this time to block an angled shot from Diego Castro.
Glory were not to be denied soon after, however, as Wuthrich bagged his first goal for the club.
Neil Kilkenny’s corner was flicked on by Tomislav Mrcela to Bruno Fornaroli who hooked the ball back to the near post where Ikonomidis headed it against the bar, before the Swiss defender stooped to nod home the rebound.
Kilkenný’s pinpoint set-piece delivery continued to trouble the Western Sydney defence as the half wore on, with Mrcela heading one of the midfielder’s corners narrowly over shortly before the break.
The home side’s first chance of the second half, meanwhile, fell to James Meredith who saw his fierce strike bravely blocked by the sliding Daniel Georgievski and the Glory defender then turned provider, whipping in a fine cross which Ikonomidis headed back across the face of goal and just wide of Suman’s left post.
A second goal appeared to be coming for the men in purple and it duly arrived in the 67th minute, Jake Brimmer’s free-kick eventually falling at the feet of Grant who controlled neatly with his first touch and drilled into the bottom corner with his second.
Liam Reddy was called into action to preserve Glory’s two-goal advantage two minutes later, reacting sharply to block a close-range effort from substitute Alex Meier, but the hosts were rarely troubled after that as they closed out the game to make it back-to-back wins and back-to-back clean sheets.
Match Details
Perth Glory 2 (Wuthrich 18′, Grant 67′) Western Sydney Wanderers 0
Half-Time: 1-0
HBF Park
Attendance: 6177
Referee: Alex King
Assistant Referee 1: Josh Mannella
Assistant Referee 2: Arvin Shanmuganathan
Fourth Official: Adam Fielding
VAR: Craig Zetter
Perth Glory: 33.Liam REDDY (gk), 2.Alex GRANT, 4.Gregory WUTHRICH, 5.Ivan FRANJIC, 8.James MEREDITH (3.Jacob TRATT 90+2′), 9.Bruno FORNAROLI, 16.Tomislav MRCELA, 17.Diego CASTRO (c), 19.Chris IKONOMIDIS (7.Joel CHIANESE 76′), 27.JUANDE, 88.Neil KILKENNY (20.Jake BRIMMER 55′)
Substitutes not used: 1.Tando VELAPHI (gk), 12.Kim SOO-BEOM, 18.Nicholas D’AGOSTINO, 28.Gabriel POPOVIC
Yellow Cards: Franjic, Juande
Red Cards: None
Western Sydney Wanderers: 40.Nicholas SUMAN (gk), 5.Daniel GEORGIEVSKI, 6.Matthew JURMAN, 7.Mitchell DUKE (c), 9.Nicolai MULLER, 11.Bruce KAMAU (14.Alex MEIER 46′), 17.Keanu BACCUS, 19.Pirmin SCHWEGLER (22.Nicholas SULLIVAN 79′), 21.Tarek ELRICH, 27.Kwame YEBOAH, 34.Patrick ZIEGLER
Substitutes not used: 1.Daniel LOPAR (gk), 4.Dylan McGOWAN, 13.Tass MOURDOUKOUTAS, 29.Daniel WILMERING, 35.Mohamed ADAM
Yellow Cards: None
Red Cards: None
#OneGlory
