Glory were unable to withstand the in-form Macarthur Bulls at HBF Park on Friday evening as goals from Jed Drew (2) and Ariath Piol steered the visitors to a 3-0 win.
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Having looked the better side during the early exchanges, Glory were dealt a major blow when striker David Williams was forced off with what looked like a serious knee injury and then conceded the game’s opening goal as Drew calmly beat Cameron Cook in a one-on-one situation.
Drew swiftly doubled his and Macarthur’s tally on the night, firing in from close range and when Piol slotted home number three for the visitors 17 minutes from time, it all but confirmed that Glory’s search for a first win of the season would go on.
Returning from a bout of illness, skipper Adam Taggart spearheaded the home side’s bright start, combining effectively with Williams and twice going close with half-chances.
At that stage, Glory looked poised to build upon last weekend’s morale-boosting away win over Brisbane Roar, but instead it was the Bulls who broke the deadlock, very much against the run of play.
The impressive Marin Jakolis sent Drew in on goal with a searching ball over the top and as the home defence appealed in vain for offside, the 21-year-old strode through and applied a composed finish.
1-0 soon became 2-0, this time Drew captialising upon some hesitant defending to crash a shot past Cook and leave David Zdrilic’s men with a mountain to climb.
They men in purple did manage to up the tempo early in the second half as they searched for a way back into the contest, but as it had been before the break, it was Macarthur who were clinical in the final third.
Jakolis was the architect once again, this time feeding the ball to Piol who picked out the bottom corner moments after coming off the bench to seal Macarthur’s first ever A-League victory in WA and move them into the top four.
Match Details
Isuzu UTE A-League 2024/25 Season Round 10
Perth Glory 0 Macarthur FC 3 (Drew 27′, 33′, Piol 73′)
Half-time: 0-2
HBF Park
Friday 27 December 2024
Attendance: 6258
Referee: Jack Morgan
Perth Glory: 13.Cameron COOK (gk), 2.Riley WARLAND (15.Zach LISOLAJSKI 65′), 7.Nicholas PENNINGTON, 9.David WILLIAMS (16.Adam BUGARIJA 16′) (17.Jarrod CARLUCCIO 85′), 12.Taras GOMULKA, 19.Josh RISDON, 20.Trent OSTLER (14.Nathanael BLAIR 85′), 22.Adam TAGGART (c), 24.Andriano LEBIB, 26.Khoa NGO (21.Abdul FAISAL 46′), 29.Tomi MRCELA
Substitutes not used: 1.Oli SAIL (gk), 27.Will FRENEY
Yellow Cards: Lebib, Warland
Red Cards: None
Macarthur FC: 12. Filip KURTO (gk), 5. Matthew JURMAN, 8. Jake HOLLMAN (19.Ariath PIOL 66′), 11. Jed DREW (24. Dean BOSNJAK 67′), 16. Oliver JONES, 18. Walter SCOTT, 20. Kealey ADAMSON (33.Yianni NICOLAOU 77′), 22. Liam ROSE (23. Frans DELI 61′), 26. Luke BRATTAN, 44. Marin JAKOLIS (21. BERNARDO 77′), 98. Valere GERMAIN
Substitutes not used: , 27.Joshua DAMEVSKI, , 30.Alexander ROBINSON (gk)
Yellow Cards: Rose, Jones
Red Cards: None
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