And just like that, the Perth Glory finally gave their members and fans something to cheer about.
In a stunning second-half comeback, the Glory went from 2-0 down to 3-2 up courtesy of a late winner from David Williams.
It’s fair to say that many fans feared the worst at half-time.
Macarthur looked like the better side, as they kept the ball quite well and were dangerous going forward, particularly when guys like Ulises Dávila and Danny De Silva were running at the Glory’s backline.
The Bulls’ first goal came courtesy of some rather sleepy defending from the Glory, as Matt Millar was slipped in behind the Glory’s backline, where he smashed his shot over Cam Cook from a tight angle.
Mile Sterjovski’s side doubled their lead a few minutes before the break, as Matt Millar was again involved in the play, as his low cross fizzed across the box to which French striker Valère Germain slid the ball home.
The Glory had a few chances, two of their better chances came from Giordano Colli. One was from some tidy link-up play in the box that saw the shot smash against the post and the other was from outside the box that forced a good save from Filip Kurto.
Perhaps the best highlight was at half-time when two Glory fans had a proposal on the pitch, which drew a huge cheer from The Shed.
The second half came and it was probably the best we’ve seen from the Glory in a long time this season.
Alen Stajcic’s side jumped out of the box pretty quickly and Salim Khelifi’s strike started the journey back for the team.
An important goal for the Tunisian, who hadn’t scored since February of this year.
The Glory continued to pile on the pressure as they were slowly chipping away at the Macarthur backline. The ball possession was much better, as the Glory kept the ball, moved it around and showed much clearer signs of improvement.
Corner after corner after corner, and then in the 65th minute, Luke Ivanovic finally scored his first goal for the Glory.
A player who has come under widespread criticism from fans for lacking an end product despite his work rate, Ivanovic’s strike catapulted the Glory back into the game and lifted the crowd.
Stajcic got his substitutions spot on as well, as Mustafa Amini was particularly impressive when he came on, a few minutes before Ivanovic’s goal.
As the game went on, you could feel that the Glory might just get one last chance, as the game got quite open.
Then in the 93rd minute, a well-driven pass from Jacob Muir was flicked on by Adam Taggart to the advantage of David Williams, who was able to get to the ball first and smash it home past Filip Kurto in goal.
The relief around the stadium was palpable and the players really fought tooth and nail against the status quo of a typical straggler in the A-Leagues, securing a big three points at home in the process.
Statistically, the Glory deserved to win. With a significantly higher number of final third and penalty box entries, and a greater xG, Alen Stajcic’s side were well worth the three points.
Standouts from the game have to be Giordano Colli and David Williams.
When Colli was able to link around the edge of the box with the attacking players, as well as getting his head up to make various switches of play, those are the types of actions that the fans, and I’m sure Alen Stajcic, would be wanting to see the midfielder replicate on a consistent basis.
As for the veteran Williams, he never stopped working. Always hustling and trying to force the ball forward, he had an enormous cameo off the bench.
Now the challenge is for the Glory to prove that this win wasn’t a one-off, as we’ve been here before, where the Glory this season had a great win against the Central Coast Mariners only to go on a run of five games without a win.
Ironically, the final game of the year will be against the Mariners on New Year’s Eve, where hopefully the players will be able to put in one last big performance to round off 2023.
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