A first-half brace from Max Caputo and stunning late strikes from Zane Schreiber and Kavian Rahmani consigned Glory to a first defeat of the season as they went down 4-0 to Melbourne City at AAMI Park on Saturday.
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On a damp and cool afternoon in Melbourne, the reigning Champions made a red-hot start as Caputo rounded off a rapid break with a simple finish to put them ahead after just five minutes.
The 20-year-old then capitalised upon a defensive error to double his and City’s tally in the latter stages of the first half, leaving Glory with a mountain to climb.
The men in purple enjoyed a greater share of the possession and territory in the second half, but were unable to grab a lifeline and were instead punished twice in the final six minutes.
Both of the hosts’ late goals were fine strikes, Schreiber thumping home from 25m out before Rahmani cut in from the left and bent a right-footed curler past Matt Sutton into the far corner.
Substitute Will Freney came close to claiming a stoppage-time consolation for Glory, but his low shot fizzed just wide seconds before referee Alireza Faghani brought proceedings to an end.
Any notion that Melbourne City might be jaded following their midweek AFC Champions League exertions were dispelled immediately as they came tearing out of the blocks and hit the front just five minutes in.
Kai Trewin began the move with a long ball which sent Matthew Leckie racing into Glory territory and the Socceroo then squared for Caputo who applied a composed finish.
Jaiden Kucharski did his best to help the visitors recover from that early setback, never giving the home defence a moment’s rest, but his afternoon came to a premature end when he succumbed to an apparent groin injury shortly after the half-hour.
City, meanwhile, continued to pour men forward at every opportunity and they were rewarded for a second time shortly before the break when Kaltak’s misplaced pass in the area was picked off by Caputo who proceeded to round Matt Sutton and fire into the roof of the net.
Glory looked decidedly more purposeful during the opening exhchanges of the second half, but with the exception of a long-range Seb Despotovski strike which was comfortably saved by Patrick Beach, they were unable to unduly trouble a well-drilled home defence.
Aurelio Vidmar’s side, in contrast, maintained their attacking threat throughout and substitutes Schreiber and Rahmani added gloss to the scoreline in spectacular fashion in the shadows of full-time.
Match Details
Isuzu UTE A-League 2025/26 Season Round 2
Melbourne City 4 (Caputo 5′, 36′, Schreiber 84′, Rahmani 90+1′) Perth Glory 0
Half-time: 2-0
AAMI Park
Attendance: 6102
Saturday 25 October 2025
Referee: Alireza Faghani
Melbourne City: 1. Patrick BEACH (gk), 4. Liam BONETIG (44. Besian KUTLESHI 68′), 7. Mathew LECKIE (39. Emin DURAKOVIC 73′), 10. Takeshi KANAMORI, 13. Nathaniel ATKINSON (19. Zane SCHREIBER 68′), 16. Aziz BEHICH (c), 17. Max CAPUTO, 20. Ben MAZZEO (47. Kavian RAHMANI 73′), 22. Germán FERREYRA, 27. Kai TREWIN, 30. Andreas KUEN (38. Beckham BAKER 81′)
Substitutes not used: 33. Dakota OCHSENHAM (gk), 34. Jayden NECOVSKI
Yellow Cards: Atkinson, Kuen
Red Cards: None
Perth Glory: 29.Matt SUTTON (gk), 4.Scott WOOTTON (c), 6.Brandon O’NEILL (8.Callum TIMMINS 61′), 9.Jaiden KUCHARSKI (14.Nathanael BLAIR 34′), 11.Lachlan WALES, 18.Rhys BOZINOVSKI, 19.Josh RISDON, 20.Trent OSTLER (2.Charbel SHAMOON 86′), 22.Adam TAGGART (27.Will FRENEY 61′), 25.Sebastian DESPOTOVSKI (17.Arion SULEMANI 61′), 45.Brian KALTAK
Substitutes not used: 24.Andriano LEBIB, 40.Ryan WARNER (gk)
Yellow Cards: Bozinovski, Risdon
Red Cards: None
#ONEGlory
ALM Match Report: Reigning Champions City prove too strong at AAMI Park
