Deja vu. That would be the main feeling among Glory members and fans after the most recent instalment of the distance derby as the Perth Glory were beaten 4-3 by the Wellington Phoenix in a seven-game thriller.
I say deja vu as it was very similar to the Glory’s loss against the Melbourne Victory in the previous game, where the team went toe-to-toe with an opponent much higher on the ladder, and on another day, probably could’ve won the game.
It was a bright start from Alen Stajcic’s men this time round as they went ahead in the seventh minute.
Salim Khelifi pounced on a loose ball and lofted a delightful cross to Adam Taggart who headed the ball home into the net for what was an excellent finish.
The Glory were somewhat able to weather the storm as the Nix kept probing, however, Kosta Barborouses found the equaliser 28 minutes in.
David Ball played a great through ball to the advantage of the Kiwi striker, who then got around Jacob Muir and lashed a shot hard and low that beat Cam Cook at his near post.
It was a sucker punch of a goal to concede, but it was coming.
When you break the goal down, it was just poor organisation on the Glory’s end. Ball’s pass took out four defenders and once Barbourouses got past Muir, it was a really easy finish.
The Nix doubled their lead just before halftime when their captain Alex Rufer launched a missile of a strike from outside the box low into the bottom left corner.
Again, sloppy defending from the Glory as they failed to clear the ball from the box and responded slowly to closing down Rufer. It’s these details where the Glory are really letting themselves down.
Fortunately for the Glory, five minutes after the break they were level courtesy of an absolute thunderbolt of a strike from Aleksandar Šušnjar.
The defender launched his strike from distance that gave in form ‘keeper Alex Paulsen no chance.
Seven minutes later and the Glory were behind again and the Nix’s third goal was scored in basically the exact same circumstances as their first.
A through ball was played in behind to the advantage of Kosta Barbourouses and the striker got beyond his man in Muir. He and Bozhidar Kraev combined well before a Barbourouses cutback found Tim Payne who had made a late run into the box.
The speed of the Wellington attacks were at times too much for the Glory players to deal with, which was disappointing.
In fairness to the players, they didn’t go down with a whimper. Instead, they managed to level the game in the 70th minute when Jarrod Carluccio burrowed his way through a few defenders and launched a rocket into the roof of the net.
It was a great strike, but more importantly a great display of character from our players.
But again, lapses in concentration and defensive organisation cost the Glory all three points as, not even two minutes later, Giancarlo Italiano’s side took the lead courtesy of Kosta Barbourouses once more.
Tim Payne got beyond Luke Ivanovic, who was caught too square, and the right back then powered a low cross to the advantage of Barbourouses who was then able to bundle his shot through Cam Cook.
You could argue the goalkeeper should’ve done better and, yes, he probably could’ve.
But to be honest, this goal was another example of the Glory not learning from their defensive mishaps over the season.
I encourage fans to take a look at the goals scored by Jack Clisby against the Glory in the Western Sydney Wanderers game and Jacob Farrell in the Central Coast Mariners contest, they happened in an almost identical fashion.
Ultimately, this is yet another game where the Glory’s inability to defend well has cost them an important result against a good team.
Alen Stajcic discussed this issue in detail in the press conference following the game, and it is an issue that needs a really thorough analysis as it was the ninth consecutive fixture in a row where the Perth Glory have conceded more than two goals in a game.
The Glory this season have the equal worst defence with Western United.
How this conundrum is solved by Stajcic and his coaching staff over the coming games, I’m not too sure. It’s an issue that’s bigger than pointing the finger at one or two players, it’s both an individual and collective issue when the Glory don’t have the ball.
The main positive from this game, I would say, is that the Glory created better chances despite not accumulating a higher xG than Wellington.
Offensively, particularly over the last four games, the Glory are doing much better than they had done in previous seasons, as the players are averaging 2.5 goals scored per game.
Adam Taggart is in red-hot form and is continuing to lead by example as the Glory’s captain this season.
But while that previous stat sounds like a promising start, again, it’s the defensive end that kills the Glory, as over the last four games, they have conceded an average of 2.75 goals.
Glory’s next game will be against the Western Sydney Wanderers on Saturday, another difficult challenge, but they’ve shown enough character and fight in games to give themselves a chance.
If the defensive organisation can improve, maybe the Glory can give themselves slightly better odds of causing an upset.
About the Author
