A record-breaking goal from Bruno Fornaroli could not prevent Glory from suffering their second defeat of the season as Sydney FC ran out 3-1 winners at HBF Park on Saturday evening.
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The Uruguayan became the quickest player to reach 50 goals in Hyundai A-League history when his superb volley on the stroke of half-time cancelled out Adam le Fondre’s early penalty for the Sky Blues.
But second-half efforts from Kosta Barbarouses and Milos Ninkovic ultimately secured the three points for Steve Corica’s men and Glory Head Coach Tony Popovic conceded that Sydney FC’s clinical finishing had proved the difference between the two sides.
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“We lost to a very good side, a ruthless side,” he said.
“They punish mistakes and when they get a chance, they put it away. I think that was probably the difference.
“I thought all the goals were against the run of play, really.
“Sydney does what Sydney does. They defend very well, they’re structured and they try and hit you on the break and when they hit you on the break, they punish you.
“But in saying that, when you think of the numerous chances we had today, it’s by far the most chances we’ve created in the three home games and we did it against the best team and did it quite comfortably.
“But unfortunately, when we were on top, we couldn’t get the goal to get the ascendancy and make it difficult for them to come out of their shape.
“We were always chasing the game and for Sydney, that suits them.”
The game exploded into life in the 11th minute when Diego Castro was adjudged to have tugged Ninkovic’s shirt in the box and le Fondre fired Sydney FC emphatically into the lead from the spot.
Stung by that opener, Glory proceeded to ask some questions of the visitors’ defence and in the 23rd minute, Chris Ikonomidis saw his first-time effort flash narrowly wide after good approach work from Joel Chianese.
Moments later, Fornaroli’s close-range strike drew a regulation save from Andrew Redmayne and the Uruguayan then saw two shots blocked by Alex Wilkinson in quick succession as half-time approached.
There was no denying Glory’s number nine in the 44th minute, however, as he bagged his second goal for the club in sumptuous style.
Neil Kilkenny’s inch-perfect pass was nodded into the box by Chianese and Fornaroli applied a crisp finish that gave Redmayne no chance.
After a cagey start to the second period, it was Sydney who struck just before the hour-mark , Alexander Baumjohann picking out Barbarouses whose deflected finish stood after the VAR adjudged the Kiwi striker not to have strayed offside.
And 2-1 soon became 3-1, Barbarouses and Rhyan Grant combining to tee up Ninkovic who swept the ball home from just inside the box.
Chris Harold was duly introduced from the bench to make his own piece of history as he set a new club record for Hyundai A-League appearances with 143 and he came close to hauling his side back into the contest when his dangerous cross was almost deflected into his own net by Alex Wilkinson.
Dino Djulbic’s header from a Kilkenny corner provided the home side’s next threatening moment, swiftly followed by an overhead kick from Harold that flew just over the bar and five minutes from time, Fornaroli had the ball in the Sydney net for a second time, only for the VAR to rule his effort out for offside.
There was still time for Castro to force a save from Redmayne as Glory continued to press right to the end, but it was not to be.
Match Details
Hyundai A-League 2019/20 Season Round 7
Perth Glory 1 (Fornaroli 44′) Sydney FC 3 (le Fondre (pen) 11′), Barbarouses 58′, Ninkovic 65′
Half-time: 1-1
HBF Park, Perth
Attendance: 8741
Referee: Daniel Elder
Assistant Referee 1: Josh Mannella
Assistant Referee 2: Arvin Shanmuganathan
Fourth Official: Shane Skinner
VAR: Stephen Lucas
Perth Glory: 33.Liam REDDY (gk), 4.Gregory WUTHRICH, 5.Ivan FRANJIC, 6.Dino DJULBIC, 7.Joel CHIANESE (14.Chris HAROLD 74′), 8.James MEREDITH (12.Kim SOO-BEOM 74′), 9.Bruno FORNAROLI, 17.Diego CASTRO (c), 19.Chris IKONOMIDIS, 27.JUANDE (28.Gabriel POPOVIC 78′), 88.Neil KILKENNY
Substitutes not used: 1.Tando VELAPHI (gk), 16.Tomislav MRCELA, 20.Jake BRIMMER, 29.Kristian POPOVIC
Yellow Cards: Kilkenny, Djulbic
Red Cards: None
Sydney FC: 1.Andrew REDMAYNE (gk), 4.Alex WILKINSON (c) (8.Paulo RETRE 88′), 5.Alex BAUMJOHANN (17.Anthony CACERES 77′), 6.Ryan McGOWAN, 7.Michael ZULLO, 9.Adam LE FONDRE, 10.Milos NINKOVIC, 11.Kosta BARBAROUSES (12.Trent BUHAGIAR 86′), 13.Brandon O’NEILL, 23.Rhyan GRANT, 26.Luke BRATTAN
Substitutes not used: 2.Patrick FLOTTMANN, 18.Luke IVANOVIC, 20.Tom HEWARD-BELLE (gk)
Yellow Cards: Zullo, McGowan
Red Cards: None
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