It was a foregone conclusion regardless of the result. Nevertheless, it officially confirmed the Glory’s season will end in three weeks in Sydney.
The team who held them to a draw on Wednesday will also be the team they play in that fixture, the side who has been the biggest thorn in Perth’s side for many years.
Despite playing with an extra man for nearly an hour, Alen Stajcic’s team couldn’t get the job done and register their first win since the middle of February.
Sydney FC haven’t lost at HBF Park since 2019. This was the best chance by far to get one over on the Sky Blues and like most of the Glory’s attempts on goal, the opportunity went begging.
The period of the game before Jake Girdwood-Reich’s red card was closely contested, with shots few and far between for both sides. Sydney had more of the ball and the territory, but rarely troubled Oli Sail between the sticks.
The best chance in open play during that time fell the Glory’s way, to the feet of Adam Taggart a couple of metres out. A miss from point blank range was a sign of things to come, as the striker endured an uncharacteristically wasteful night in front of goal.
Unsurprisingly, a defensive lapse resulted in the first goal, as Bruce Kamau lunged in on Jordan Courtney-Perkins and gave away a penalty. Joe Lolley smashed the ball down the middle to open the scoring.
The game turned on its head at the half hour mark, when Aleksandar Susnjar played a long ball in behind to Taggart. Girdwood-Reich brought down the striker on the run, and after much deliberation between VAR and referee Alex King, the 19-year-old was given his marching orders.
From then on all the momentum was with the home side. Right after the sending off, the Glory had a string of chances blocked or saved, but the visitors held onto their lead going to the break.
The second half was more of the same; Sydney defending deep, allowing the Glory to move the ball sideways without letting it get into dangerous areas centrally.
The biggest frustration was the speed of the passing; it was nowhere near quick enough to create gaps in the Sydney’s shape or isolate their full backs.
In terms of chances, Taggart dragged a shot wide following a fortunate deflection off David Williams and Jarrod Carluccio came close from the edge of the box, shortly after not being awarded a penalty after slight contact with Rhyan Grant.
The breakthrough eventually came after 72 minutes, in the form of a towering header by Kaelan Majekodunmi from Riley Warland’s in-swinging free kick.
Although the Glory pressed for a winner and came close when Taggart had an attempt from close range saved by Andrew Redmayne, it didn’t come to fruition in the final moments.
In total Taggart had 13 shots on goal, making up nearly half of Perth’s attempts and almost double Sydney’s for the match. Sometimes it just isn’t your day.
What was of more annoyance was just the three shots on target for the second half, a figure which I would’ve expected to be higher in the circumstances.
The Wrap Up
Sydney defended well on the night and earned their point on the road. On the flip side, I’m disappointed we weren’t able to take advantage of the situation and take home the win.
Right now the Glory sit second bottom, level on points with Western United in 10th and one point above Newcastle.
A win today will see us go level on points with ninth, who are also our opponents. Adelaide United are next, and a goalfest is bound to occur.
The last game between the sides ended 3-3. The last meeting at HBF Park? 4-4, with three goals in second half added time.
Nestory Irankunda is coming off a hattrick, and broke Glory hearts in that eight-goal draw. With the attacking quality of both sides, this is a game you don’t want to miss.
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