Diego Castro scored twice and Bruno Fornaroli bagged his sixth goal in as many games as Glory secured a 3-1 win over Brisbane Roar at HBF Park on Friday evening.
https://players.brightcove.net/5498268486001/default_default/index.html?videoId=6235636486001
The Spaniard put the home side in front on 40 minutes with a stunning, curling effort only for Jack Hingert to head Roar level on the stroke of half-time.
But Fornaroli’s thumping volley soon restored Glory’s lead and Castro duly converted a cross from debutant Kosuke Ota to make it 3-1 and send Richard Garcia’s men surging back into the top six.
Unsurprisingly, Garcia was quick to praise his side whose performance was all the more impressive given that they only emerged from a fortnight of home quarantine last weekend.
https://players.brightcove.net/5498268486001/default_default/index.html?videoId=6235636557001
“It was a very good win,” he said.
“The guys did did really well.
“It was a performance that showed they had been in quarantine for a few weeks and hadn’t had much match practice, but to their credit, they stuck at it and kept pushing and the guys that came off the bench made the impact that was required.
“I’m proud of this team that is continuously pushing to go forward and continually challenge themselves to be on the front foot.
“We’ve always said that we wanted to play attacking football.
“I want us to be the kind of team that I would like to watch and the guys have really started to take that on board.
“They want to play that kind of football as well and at the moment they are really hitting their straps and are doing very well.”
It was Brisbane who began the brighter in perfect conditions, Riku Danzaki drawing a regulation save from Tando Velaphi before Golgol Mebrahtu headed a Jay O’Shea free-kick against the top of the crossbar.
But Glory gradually grew into the game and hit the front when Nick D’Agostino surged towards the Roar box before shipping the ball on to Castro who cut in from the left and bent a right-foot shot into the far corner.
And although Hingert’s powerful header from a Dylan Wenzel-Halls cross sent the two teams into the break on level terms, a quadruple substitution from the hosts, the first in A-League history, soon swung the momentum back their way.
Glory’s second goal was a thing of beauty, Neil Kilkenny’s raking cross-field pass perfectly cushioned into Fornaroli’s path by Ota, with the Uruguayan then rifling a stinging half-volley past Jamie Young in the Roar goal.
And 2-1 became 3-1 seven minutes later, with Ota again the provider.
This time the former Japan international was released by Fornaroli and drove in a low cross which Castro brought under control with his first touch and fired into the net with his second.
That third goal secured another record for Glory as they became the first team in A-League history to score 18 times in their opening six games of the season and Garcia’s side saw out the final quarter with a degree of comfort.
Match Details
Perth Glory 3 (Castro 40′, 75′, Fornaroli 68′) Brisbane Roar 1 (Hingert 43′)
Half-time: 1-1
HBF Park, Perth
Referee: Alireza Faghani
Perth Glory: 1.Tando VELAPHI (GK), 5.Jonathan ASPROPOTAMITIS, 9.Bruno FORNAROLI, 15.Brandon WILSON (6.Osama MALIK 61′), 17.Diego CASTRO (C) (16.Nick SULLIVAN 83′), 18.Nick D’AGOSTINO (24.Daniel STYNES 61′), 20.Carlo ARMIENTO (10.Andy KEOGH 61′), 22.Josh RAWLINS, 23.Dane INGHAM (8.Kosuke OTA 61′), 29.Darryl LACHMAN, 88.Neil KILKENNY
Substitutes not used: 33.Liam REDDY (GK), 34.Mason TATAFU
Yellow Cards: Ingham
Red Cards: None
Brisbane Roar: 21.Jamie YOUNG (gk), 3.Corey BROWN, 5.Tom ALDRED (c), 6.Macaulay GILLESPHEY, 10.Riku DANZAKI (11.Joe CHAMPNESS 73′), 17.Golgol MEBRAHTU (33.Keegan JELACIC 73′), 19.Jack HINGERT, 23.Dylan WENZEL-HALLS, 25.Rahmat AKBARI, 26.Jay O’SHEA, 27.Kai TREWIN (15.Jesse DALEY 78′)
Substitutes not used: 1.Macklin FREKE (gk), 16.Joshua BRINDELL-SOUTH, 29.Jordan COURTNEY-PERKINS,
Yellow Cards: None
Red Cards: None
#OneGlory
