Goals in either half from Keegan Jelacic and Juan Mata consigned Glory to a 2-0 defeat against Melbourne Victory at a rainswept HBF Park on Friday evening.
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Former Glory man Jelacic broke the deadlock 11 minutes in with a crisp strike from the edge of the box, before Spanish World Cup winner Mata capped off a counter-attack with a close-range finish early in the second half.
With Adam Griffiths in interim charge following the departure of Head Coach David Zdrilic earlier in the week, Glory enjoyed the lion’s share of the possession and created a number of decent chances in both halves, but were ultimately unable to unlock a disciplined Victory backline
After a fitting tribute was paid to former Glory Assistant Manager Alan Vest who sadly passed away on Thursday, the hosts created the first chance as Adam Taggart was just unable to steer home a fine, inswinging cross from Will Freney.
Jelacic’s early goal did then set Glory back for a portion of the opening half, but with Welsh import Tom Lawrence looking lively on his debut for the club and Lachie Wales also a constant threat, they appeared well capable of forcing their way back into it.
Indeed, an equaliser looked to be very much on the cards during the opening minutes of the second half as substitute Seb Despotovski tried his luck from range and Taggart went close twice in as many minutes.
Again, however, Victory showed a clinical edge in front of goal, this time ex-Glory Premiership winner Jason Davidson galloping away down the left and sending in a low cross which Mata calmly converted at the far post.
As the rain sheeted its way across HBF Park, Glory battled gamely to find a foothold in the contest, Charbel Shamoon seeing his effort cleared off the line by Davidson and Jack Duncan keeping out another strike from the luckless Taggart.
During a lively final quarter, only a fine save from Matt Sutton prevented Nikolaos Vergos from bagging a third for Victory, while at the other end, the men in purple came close to setting up a grandstand finish when Despotovski sent an 89th-minute chance just the wrong side of the post.
Match Details
Isuzu UTE A-League 2025/26 Season Round 3
Perth Glory 0 Melbourne Victory 2 (Jelacic 11′, Mata 54′)
Half-time: 0-1
HBF Park
Friday 31 October 2025
Referee: Shaun Evans
Attendance: 5295
Perth Glory: 29.Matt SUTTON (gk), 2.Charbel SHAMOON (21.Adam BUGARIJA 63′), 4.Scott WOOTTON (co-c), 8.Callum TIMMINS (20.Trent OSTLER 63′), 11.Lachlan WALES, 18.Rhys BOZINOVSKI (6.Brandon O’NEILL 84′), 19.Josh RISDON, 22.Adam TAGGART (co-c), 27.Will FRENEY, 34.Tom LAWRENCE (25.Sebastian DESPOTOVSKI, 46′), 45.Brian KALTAK
Substitutes not used: 17.Arion SULEMANI, 24.Andriano LEBIB, 40.Ryan WARNER (gk),
Yellow Cards: Risdon, Timmins
Red Cards: None
Melbourne Victory: 25. Jack DUNCAN, 2. Jason DAVIDSON, 4. Lachlan JACKSON, 8. Jordi VALADON, 9. Nikolaos VERGOS (29. Oliver DRAGICEVIC 80′), 10. Denis GENREAU (19. Jing REEC 80′) , 14. Matthew GRIMALDI (34. Xavier STELLA 69′), 16. Joshua INSERRA (15. Sebastian ESPOSITO 89′) 22. Joshua RAWLINS, 23. Keegan JELACIC, 64. Juan MATA (11. Clerismario SANTOS RODRIGUES 69′)
Substitutes not used: 3. Adama TRAORE, 40. Jack WARSHAWSKY
Yellow Cards: Davidson, Valadon, Jelacic
Red Cards: None
#ONEGlory
ALM Match Wrap: Clinical Victory claim the win at HBF Park
