In their final home game of the 2023/24 season, the Perth Glory not only fell to fellow stragglers Western United 4-3 but were also condemned to their second wooden spoon in the last three seasons.
This game was built up as somewhat of a redemption opportunity for the club given the dreadful performance the previous week against Melbourne City, where the Glory were thrashed 8-0 with owner Ross Pelligra in attendance.
Pelligra was present for this game as well, and there’s no doubt he and the 4,651 fans that were in attendance were looking for a spark from the players, a desire where they wanted to write the wrongs of the City loss and show that that performance was an anomaly.
Unfortunately, things got off to a bad start as Western United hit the lead inside the opening four minutes courtesy of a delightful chip from Matthew Grimaldi. The defending was really poor here, which hasn’t been a surprise all season, as Lachie Wales was able to cut inside and find Grimaldi, who had ghosted in behind the box, and was able to finish smartly from close range.
Glory had a lot of the ball in the first half, almost 60% of the overall possession, however, they struggled to generate anything meaningful from it. Granted, the conditions were quite tough, but the lack of movement and purpose from the players off the ball and the quality from those on the ball was apparent.
Adam Taggart was able to equalise from the Glory courtesy of some good wide play from fullback Johnny Koutroumbis, whose cross was met delightfully by Taggart who lept up well and headed home from close range.
The Glory almost had their pants pulled down about 10 minutes later, as Darryl Lachman carelessly gave the ball away to Steven Lustica, and from that moment, Western pounced and launched a counterattack forward. Riku Danzaki was able to ghost in behind Kaelan Majekodunmi, but his subsequent one-on-one effort was dragged wide.
Taggart had a great opportunity to put the Glory in the lead in the 41st minute following some good combination play involving Mustafa Amini and Johnny Koutroumbis, only for Taggart to knock his half-volley over the bar.
What would’ve delighted fans was the intensity from the Glory players when they started the second half, and their energy was rewarded quite quickly, as Western United were caught messing around at the back, Stefan Colakovski nipped in and then found Adam Taggart, who had a very simple finish from close range.
It was a great moment for the Glory captain, who not only leapt ahead of Bruno Fornaroli in the Golden Boot race but also set a new record as he beat Shane Smeltz’s total of 17 goals, where his current status of 19 is the most scored by a Glory player in a single season.
The Glory thought they had a third goal in the 60th minute, as David Williams put the ball in the back of the net, only for the referee Shane Skinner to rule against the goal due to a foul from Williams on Charbel Shamoon. In all honesty, it was probably a 50/50 challenge but it was disappointing to not see Williams rewarded with the goal.
From that moment, Western United got more involved in the game and started to build a better rhythm with their general play. A few minutes after the Williams’ non-goal, United stormed up the other end and grabbed an equaliser, as Kaelan Majekodunmi’s clearance was met by Angus Thurgate, who then found Michael Ruhs. Ruhs was then able to find Danzaki at the edge of the box, who powered home a low strike.
You could argue that the keeper, Oli Sail, probably could’ve and should’ve done better, but again, the Glory’s defensive work rate as a unit was very sloppy and lethargic, which allowed Western United back into the game.
Angus Thurgate was at the heart of Western United’s third goal, as he intercepted the ball off David Williams on the halfway line and then played a beautiful slide rule pass to Abel Walatee, who made a clever run in behind and struck hard and low, with his shot going in via the post.
Again, really sloppy defending from the Glory. Johnny Koutroumbis was caught way too high out of position, and unfortunately for Kaelan Majekodunmi, he was too slow to cover and apply any pressure on Walatee, who had so much time to pick and choose his spot. Questions could also be asked of the goalkeeper Sail, who made no effort to save the ball.
The Glory had a few chances to equalise the game, but it was Western United who got the go-ahead goal in the 91st minute, as Giordano Colli was caught on the ball on the edge of the box which then allowed Oliver Lavale to score from close range. Lavale’s celebration was definitely one to wind up the crowd, but after scoring his first goal in professional football, you can’t blame him.
David Williams was able to pull one back almost straight away for the Glory following some loose passing from Western United, but it was ultimately too little too late.
Ultimately this was a game that shared a similar pattern that’s been evident throughout the whole season that was summed up perfectly by The West Australian writer Ben Smith, “Taggart great, defence abject”.
It’s been great to see the attack improve as much as it has done this year and Glory’s 45 goals scored is a feat that hasn’t been seen since the 2018/19 Premiership winning season. On the other hand, the defence has been dreadful, and conceding 62 goals in a season is completely unacceptable.
Alen Stajcic spoke about the fact that the whole club needs to improve, starting with himself, which is a fair call, as ultimately, extraneous circumstances or not, finishing last is not acceptable and changes must be made to not only ensure it doesn’t happen again in the future but also how we can move up the table and return to the finals for the first time since the 2019/20 season.
The focus now turns to the last game of the season away to Sydney FC, where it would be nice if the whole team, rather than a handful of individuals, could put in a much better performance.
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