Bruno Fornaroli scored a stunning goal as Glory battled out a 1-1 draw with Adelaide United in Saturday’s Isuzu Ute A-League Men 2021/22 Season-opener at HBF Park.
Click HERE for full match highlights.
In front of a raucous crowd of 17,198, the club’s second-highest regular-season A-League attendance of all time, the visitors were rewarded for their purposeful start when Kusini Yengi gave them the lead midway through the first half.
But shortly before the break, Fornaroli turned cleverly on the halfway line, bore down on goal and then unleashed a ferocious shot from just outside the area which arrowed its way past James Delianov in the United goal.
There was plenty of other action during a compelling and hard-fought encounter, notably Ryan Kitto striking the post for the Reds and Glory’s Antonee Burke-Gilroy having his effort ruled out by the VAR during the second half.
But the biggest roar of the night was reserved for Daniel Sturridge who made his first appearance in purple when he was introduced from the bench in the 85th minute.
The former England international was one of six Glory players making their debuts, while Brandon O’Neill skippered his hometown club for the first time and Head Coach Richard Garcia was generally pleased with what he saw from his new-look side.
View Garcia’s media conference in full HERE.
“It was a difficult game and we looked like a team who hadn’t had a competitive game since last season,” he said.
“But they worked their way into it.
“I thought that they were a bit nervy at the start, probably a bit apprehensive about not having had a competitive game, but I thought they grew fantastically and towards the end of the first half, started to find their feet.
“I thought it was a fantastic effort tonight and a step in the right direction.”
It was the visitors who were the quicker out of the traps at the start of the game, with Josh Cavallo and and Yengi both going close before Kitto hit the outside of the post from just inside the box in the 15th minute.
But the Reds were not be denied for long, as Ben Halloran delivered an inviting low cross from the right and Yengi sidefooted home from close range.
To their credit, Glory rallied immediately and restored parity five minutes before the break via Fornaroli’s unstoppable strike.
The home side thought they had taken the lead early in the second half, Antonee Burke-Gilroy sweeping home a Fornaroli cross only for a delayed VAR offside decision to deny the young defender a goal on debut.
Another debutant, Brad Jones, was then called into action at the other end to keep out a well-struck effort from Adelaide substitute Craig Goodwin and just before Sturridge was introduced, the dangerous Burke-Gilroy flashed another shot narrowly wide of the target.
Sturridge was ultimately unable to make a fairytale start to his Glory career by bagging a late winner, but there were still plenty of positives for the men in purple to build upon during the upcoming run of away games.
Match Details
Perth Glory 1 (Fornaroli 40′) Adelaide United 1 (Yengi 22′)
Half-time: 1-1
HBF Park
Attendance: 17,198
Referee: Adam Kersey
Perth Glory: 1.Brad JONES (GK), 4.Luke BODNAR, 5.Jonathan ASPROPOTAMITIS (2.Aaron CALVER 85′), 8.Kosuke OTA, 9.Bruno FORNAROLI (15.Daniel STURRIDGE 85′), 10.Andy KEOGH (7.Adrian SARDINERO 54′), 13.Brandon O’NEILL (C), 14.Jack CLISBY, 21.Antonee BURKE-GILROY, 24.Pacifique NIYONGABIRE (18.Daniel STYNES 54′), 29.Darryl LACHMAN
Substitutes not used: 12.Cameron COOK (GK), 22.Josh RAWLINS, 38.Ciaran BRAMWELL
Yellow Cards: Ota, Stynes
Red Cards: None
Adelaide United: 1.James DELIANOV (GK), 4.Nick ANSELL (23.Jacob TRATT 46′), 6.Louis D’ARRIGO (31.Bernardo OLIVEIRA 76′), 7.Ryan KITTO (11.Craig GOODWIN 50′), 8.Stefan MAUK (C) (28.JUANDE 65′), 9.Kusini YENGI (17.Mohamed TOURE 76′), 10.ISAIAS, 21.Javi LOPEZ, 22.Michael JAKOBSEN, 26.Ben HALLORAN, 27.Josh CAVALLO
Substitutes not used: 46.Joe GAUCI (GK)
Yellow Cards: ISAIAS, Tratt
Red Cards: None
#OneGlory
