Glory’s late charge for a Finals berth continued to gather pace on Wednesday evening as late goals from Bruno Fornaroli and Chris Ikonomidis secured a dramatic 2-1 win over Adelaide United at HBF Park.
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The victory, their fourth on the spin, moved Glory level on points with Brisbane Roar who currently occupy sixth place, with five games of the regular season still to play.
Having spent much of the first half on the back foot, the hosts trailed at the break thanks to Kusini Yengi’s goal which arrived just short of the half-hour mark.
But having steadily improved throughout the second half, Richard Garcia’s men made it 1-1 with 12 minutes to play as Fornaroli marked his 50th appearance for the club by nodding home a pinpoint Ikonomidis cross.
And Ikonomidis then took centre stage himself, firing home his fourth goal in the last five games with four minutes left to leave Garcia understandably delighted.
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“I’m very pleased for the group,” he said.
“They dug in and showed fantastic resilience to come back and to win in the end is testament to them and their togetherness.
“It’s fantastic to see them working so hard even when things aren’t going according to plan.
“For me, that shows great courage, great resilience and great togetherness.
“They fought hard to keep it at 1-0 and come into the half-time break just one goal behind.
“We then regathered our thoughts and went back to being us and that was very pleasing tonight.”
It was Glory who created the game’s first chance when Ciaran Bramwell, one of five WA players under the age of 22 or under named in the starting side, headed an Ikonomidis cross wide of the target.
But as the half wore on, the Reds began to look the more likely and although Liam Reddy did well to paw away a cross-shot from Ryan Strain, he was helpless to prevent United from taking the lead in the 28th minute.
Louis D’Arrigo supplied the cross which found Yengi deep inside the box and the 22-year-old bundled home his fourth goal of the season despite the close attentions of Darryl Lachman.
It was a different story after the break, however, as roared on by a vocal home crowd, Glory seized the initiative and eventually hit back through Fornaroli.
Ikonomidis, playing his 50th career A-League game, was given too much time and space to deliver a cross from the right and Fornaroli climbed superbly between two defenders to power home a classic centre-forward’s header.
The equaliser left Adelaide reeling and Glory took full advantage eight minutes later when substitute Nick D’Agostino found Fornaroli with a clever flick, his cross fell for Ikonomidis at the far post and the in-form Socceroos frontman crashed home to ensure that Glory’s Finals dream remains very much alive.
Match Details
Perth Glory 2 (Fornaroli 78′, Ikonomidis 86′) Adelaide United 1 (Yengi 28′)
Half-time: 0-1
HBF Park, Perth
Referee: Shaun Evans
Perth Glory: 33.Liam REDDY (gk), 2.Jason GERIA, 7.Chris IKONOMIDIS, 8.Kosuke OTA, 9.Bruno FORNAROLI (c), 13.Luke BODNAR (6.Osama MALIK 46′), 19.Callum TIMMINS (18.Nick D’AGOSTINO 75′), 22.Josh RAWLINS (23.Dane INGHAM 61′), 24.Daniel STYNES (17.Diego CASTRO 46′), 29.Darryl LACHMAN, 38.Ciaran BRAMWELL (11.Joel CHIANESE 46′)
Substitutes not used: 1.Tando VELAPHI (gk), 37.Riley WARLAND
Yellow Cards: Chianese
Red Cards: None
Adelaide United: 1.James DELIANOV (gk), 3.George TIMOTHEOU, 4.Ryan STRAIN, 6.Louis D’ARRIGO, 7.Ryan KITTO (21.Javi LÓPEZ 58′), 11.Craig GOODWIN, 23.Jordan ELSEY, 26.Ben HALLORAN, 27.Josh CAVALLO (17.Mohamed TOURE 66′) 28.JUANDE, 29.Kusini YENGI (35.Al Hassan TOURE 66′)
Substitutes not used: 2.Michael MARRONE, , 33.Dakota OCHSENHAM (gk)
Yellow Cards: Juande, D’Arrigo
Red Cards: None
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