Perth Glory will be out to make it two wins on the trot following their gutsy 1-0 away to Newcastle last week and compound Melbourne Heart’s winless start to the season when they take on John van’t Schip’s side this Friday night at nib Stadium.
Perth Glory will be out to make it two wins on the trot following their gutsy 1-0 away to Newcastle last week and compound Melbourne Heart-s winless start to the season when they take on John van’t Schip-s side this Friday night at nib Stadium.
It was an impressive team effort by the Glory who was able to hold out a number of Jets- attacks in the second half. Chris Harold was the sole goal scorer for the match after latching onto an errant Jacob Pepper back pass to slot it past Mark Birighitti in the 37th minute, but he was well backed up by a solid Perth defence and a man of the match performance from goal keeper Danny Vukovic.
Harold-s goal capped off a great week for the 21-year-old striker after signing a 2-year-deal with the club that will take him through to the end of the 2015-16 season.
William Gallas will miss another week as he rehabilitates from a calf injury sustained in Round 7, although Jack Clisby continues to excel in Gallas- absence and was named in the FFA team of the week for his outstanding work against the Jets. Clisby has played the last six games in the centre of defence next to Michael Thwaite and is another player who recently signed a two-year contract extension at Glory.
Heart-s inability to win on the road has resulted in them holding the unwanted record of being the only team not to have won an away game in their past 20 attempts (4D, 16L). They are also at risk of equalling the 2005-2006 New Zealand Knights record of 19 matches without a win if they are unsuccessful against the Glory.
Heart-s last away win was against Melbourne Victory in Round 1 of last season which means they haven-t won an away match outside of Victoria in their past 24 attempts with their last conquest coming against Sydney FC in Round 13 of the 2011-12 season.
Jamie Maclaren was the only goal scorer the last time these two sides met in Round 3 but the young striker will miss this game due to a groin complaint. However, in a boost for the home side, Shane Smeltz is expected to make his 50th Hyundai A-League appearance for Glory after training strongly throughout the week.
Perth and Melbourne have both under gone coaching changes since their previous encounter with Kenny Lowe replacing Alistair Edwards and van’t Schip taking over from John Aloisi.
Van-t Schip took charge of Heart last week for the first time this season following Aloisi-s dismissal in Round 12 and managed to secure a point against the Central Coast Mariners. He said he was happy with Heart-s performance and will be hoping to go one better when they walk out onto nib Stadium this Friday.
“I think the boys played the way I asked them to; especially in the first half. The second half was a little bit more difficult, but still then we were still playing some good football,” van-t Schip said from Melbourne airport, prior to the team boarding for Perth.
“I think this week again we worked on those things [in training] so hopefully we can show some improvement again against Perth. We are always looking to turn things around, but the main thing is to focus on our game plan and if we do that well … then results eventually will have to come,” he added.
Despite Perth Glory having kept three clean sheets on their way to three successive home wins against the red and white of Melbourne, Lowe wasn-t buying in to the hype surrounding Hearts- away record and said they were unlucky to be in last place on the Hyundai A-League ladder.
“Melbourne Heart are in a false position. I watch all the games and there are seven or eight games that they should-ve won,” Lowe said from Glory-s training session at nib Stadium.
“I-ve never seen so many chances missed and so much bad luck, so they-ll be a tough team. They-ve gone away to Central Coast (last week), dominated possession, created chances and looked the better side by a mile.”
Harry Kewell missed the Round 3 clash between these two sides last time. Kewell has played the last five games and started the last two as he continues to build up optimum match fitness after struggling with injuries from rounds 2-8. The former Liverpool and Leeds United striker has yet to open his goal-scoring account for the Heart and Glory will be hoping that run continues on Friday night.
Michael Mifsud came into the league with the reputation as a quality goal scorer. While not quite delivering on the goals to date (only 1 goal in 11 games), Mifsud has not missed a match for the Heart since debuting in Round 3 and continues to look dangerous. Glory will need to keep a sharp eye on the Maltese international if they are to secure the three points at nib Stadium.
INJURY UPDATE
Jack Duncan – 2-3 weeks (National Duties)
Ryan Edwards – 2-3 weeks (National Duties)
Travis Dodd – Indefinite (Knee)
William Gallas – 1 week (Calf)
Scott Jamieson – Indefinite (Achilles)
Jamie Maclaren – 1 week ( Groin)
Ryo Nagai – 2-3 weeks (Hamstring)
Friday, 10 January 2014
Perth Glory v Melbourne Heart
nib Stadium, Perth
Kick-off: 6:45pm local (9:45pm AEDT)
Referee: Peter Green
TV Broadcast: 9:30pm (AEDT) Live and exclusive coverage on FOX Sports 1HD and Sky Sport 3 (New Zealand).
Radio Broadcast: 720 ABC Perth, ABC Local Radio WA, 774 ABC Melbourne, ABC Local Radio Victoria Grandstand Digital and Online/Mobile phone app. Sport FM (Perth)
Join the conversation on Twitter using the hash-tag #PERvMHT
To purchase tickets visit www.aleague.com.au/tickets
Perth Glory Squad: 1.Daniel VUKOVIC (GK), 2.Jack CLISBY, 3.Brandon O-NEILL, 6.Cameron EDWARDS, 7. Jacob BURNS, 9. Shane SMELTZ, 11. Adrian ZAHRA, 14.Steven McGARRY, 15. Isaka CERNAK, 16.Sidnei SCIOLA MORAES, 17. Chris HAROLD, 20. Danny DE SILVA, 22. Ndumba MAKECHE, 23.Michael THWAITE, 24.Matthew DAVIES, 25. Riley WOODCOCK, 39. Luke RADONICH (GK)
**One to be omitted **
Ins: 7. Jacob BURNS (returns from suspension), 9. Shane SMELTZ (returns from injury), 39. Luke RADONICH (GK) (promoted)
Outs: 4.Ryan EDWARDS (International Duty – young Socceroos), 18.Jack DUNCAN (International Duty)
Unavailable: Travis DODD (knee – indefinite), William GALLAS (calf – 1 week), Scott JAMIESON (achilles – indefinite), Jamie MACLAREN (groin – 1 week), Ryo NAGAI (hamstring – 2-3 weeks)
Melbourne Heart FC Squad: 1.Andrew REDMAYNE (GK), 2.Jeremy WALKER, 3.Robbie WIELAERT, 6.Patrick GERHARDT, 7.Iain RAMSAY, 8.Massimo MURDOCCA, 9.Dylan MACALLISTER, 10.Harry KEWELL (C), 11.Michael MIFSUD, 15.David WILLIAMS, 16.Aziz BEHICH, 17.Jason HOFFMAN, 19.Ben GARUCCIO, 20.Tando VELAPHI (GK), 22.Nick KALMAR, 23.Mate DUGANDZIC, 24.Patrick KISNORBO, 25.Andrea MIGLIORINI
**Two to be omitted**
Ins: 2. Jeremy WALKER (promoted), 9. Dylan MACALLISTER (promoted), 19. Ben GARUCCIO (promoted)
Outs: 21. Stefan MAUK (International Duty – Young Socceroos)
Unavailable: 4.Orlando ENGELAAR (Fractured tibia – 2-6 weeks), 13.Jonatan GERMANO (Calf – 3-4 weeks), 18.David Vrankovic (International Duty – Young Socceroos)
GLORY REVIEW – ROUND 13
Newcastle Jets 0 – 1 Perth Glory FC (Chris HAROLD 37′)
Hunter Stadium
Saturday, 4 January 2014
Attendance: 11,966
Referee: Matt Gillett
Newcastle Jets: 1. Mark BIRIGHITTI (gk), 3. Taylor REGAN (7. Andrew HOOLE 80-), 4. Kew JALIENS, 6. Zenon CARAVELLA (5. Ben KANTAROVSKI 57-), 8. Ruben ZADKOVICH (c), 10. Nathan BURNS, 11. Craig GOODWIN (9. Emile HESKEY 57-), 15. Josh BRILLANTE, 16. Jacob PEPPER, 21. Sam GALLAWAY, 22. Adam TAGGART
Subs not used: 18. James BROWN, 20. Ben KENNEDY (GK)
Yellow Cards: 4. Kew JALIENS 54-, 7. Andrew HOOLE 84-
Perth Glory: 1.Daniel VUKOVIC (GK), 2.Jack CLISBY, 4.Ryan EDWARDS, 11. Adrian ZAHRA (20. Danny DE SILVA 91-), 14.Steven McGARRY, 16.Sidnei SCIOLA MORAES (6.Cameron EDWARDS 79-), 15. Isaka CERNAK (3.Brandon O-NEILL 67-), 17. Chris HAROLD, 23.Michael THWAITE, 24.Matthew DAVIES, 25. Riley WOODCOCK
Subs not used: 18.Jack DUNCAN (GK), 22. Ndumba MAKECHE
Goals: 17. Chris HAROLD
Yellow Cards: 24.Matthew DAVIES 44-, 14.Steven McGARRY 65-, 3.Brandon O-NEILL 89-
