Kaelan Majekodunmi scored the second goal of his maiden Isuzu UTE A-League season as Glory fought out a 1-1 draw with in-form Sydney FC at HBF Park on Wednesday evening.
View the full match highlights HERE.
View Alen Stajcic’s post-match media conference HERE.
The 20-year-old defender crashed home a 72nd-minute header from a Riley Warland free-kick to cancel out Joe Lolley’s first-half penalty for the hosts.
The Sky Blues also lost Jake Girdwood-Reich to a red card during that opening period, but managed to hang on for a point despite Glory laying siege to their goal throughout the latter stages of what was a lively contest.
Sydney FC had lost just once in their previous ten games heading into the midweek clash and after Lolley and Robert Mak had gone close in the early exchanges, they broke through in the 24th minute.
As Jordan Courtney-Perkins surged into the box, he was clipped by Bruce Kamau and the subsequent penalty was dispatched emphatically by Lolley.
Within seven minutes, however, the complexion of the game changed again as the visitors were reduced to ten men.
Girdwood-Reich’s tangle with Adam Taggart was initially deemed worthy of just a yellow by referee Alex King, but after a lengthy referral to the VAR, it was upgraded to a red.
And Glory almost made their numerical superiority tell immediately as Gio Colli’s free-kick forced a stunning, one-handed save from Andrew Redmayne.
The men in purple thought they had been awarded a penalty of their own early in the second half when Rhyan Grant appeared to trip substitute Jarrod Carluccio, but this time King’s consultation with VAR did not result in his initial decision, to award a corner, being overturned.
As the half wore on, Glory continued to force Sydney back and Taggart and Carluccio both went close before Majekodunmi found a way past Redmayne.
Warland’s inswinging delivery from the right was pinpoint and Majekodunmi climbed superbly above his marker to nod home powerfully at the far post.
That goal raised hopes among the home faithful of yet another grandstand finish, but it was not to be as Redmayne produced another impressive save to block Taggart’s effort with his legs and with five minutes left, David Williams saw his cross-shot miss the top corner by a matter of centimetres.
Match Details
Isuzu UTE A-League 2023/24 Season Round 12
Perth Glory 1 (Majekodunmi 72′) Sydney FC 1 (Lolley (pen) 25′)
Half-time: 0-1
HBF Park
Wednesday 3 April 2024
Attendance: 4862
Referee: Alex King
Perth Glory: 1.Oli SAIL (gk), 8.Mustafa AMINI (19.Trent OSTLER 87′), 15.Aleksandar SUSNJAR (14.Riley WARLAND 58′), (9.David WILLIAMS 58′), 16.Josh RAWLINS (2.Johnny KOUTROUMBIS 83′), 20.Giordano COLLI, 22.Adam TAGGART (co-c), 23.Daniel BENNIE, 28.Kaelan MAJEKODUNMI, 29.Darryl LACHMAN, 31.Joel ANASMO, 77.Bruce KAMAU (17.Jarrod CARLUCCIO 46′)
Substitutes not used: 3.Jacob MUIR, 13.Cameron COOK (gk)
Yellow Cards: Susnjar, Amini, Colli
Red Cards: None
Sydney FC: 1. Andrew REDMAYNE, 4. Jordan COURTNEY-PERKINS, 8. Jake GIRDWOOD-REICH, 10. Joe LOLLEY (19. Mitch GLASSON 89′), 11. Robert MAK (28. Nathan AMANATIDIS 65′) (16. Joel KING 89′), 12. Corey HOLLMAN, 17. Anthony CACERES, 23. Rhyan GRANT, 25. Jaiden KUCHARSKI (15. Gabriel LACERDA 35′), 26. Luke BRATTAN (C), 27. Hayden MATTHEWS
Substitutes not used: 9. Fabio GOMES, 20. Adam PAVLESIC (GK), 22. Max BURGESS
Yellow Cards: Caceres
Red Cards: Girdwood-Reich
#ONEGlory
