Perth Glory yesterday went through their sixth game without a win, following a 2-1 defeat away to fellow stragglers Western United.
It was a game that had a very similar flow to the Glory’s 2-1 loss to Brisbane last week; Glory hitting the lead early, the home side scoring two goals before the break, Glory having lots of possession but being unable to find an equaliser, or a winner.
Ruben Zadkovich’s side started the game brightly, as within the first ten minutes, Glory kept the ball well and forced Jamie Young to make a smart stop at his near post following a tight shot from David Williams.
Adam Taggart was very unlucky not to put the Glory ahead just after the eleventh minute, as he read Mark Beevers’ clearance better than Tomoki Imai, only for his lob over Jamie Young to go just over the bar.
The wind was certainly playing a key factor in proceedings early on, as the Glory found the opener just 22 minutes in. A deep cross from Jack Clisby was met by Jordan Elsey, whose header was saved, only for the rebound to fall at the feet of the defender, who smashed the ball past the keeper.
Glory continued to move the ball well, as they looked to extend the lead following Elsey’s opener.
It just wasn’t to be for boom recruit Adam Taggart, as in the 36th minute, Keegan Jelacic played a beautiful through ball to the advantage of the Socceroo, only for Taggart to sky his one on one over the bar.
From there, Western United started to look more of a threat going forward, as they began to create some very dangerous opportunities.
In the 41st minute, Malian midfielder, Tongo Doumbia scored the equaliser for the hosts, as he shrugged off Johnny Koutroumbis and powered home the header from close range.
A few seconds before the half-time break, United broke through the Glory’s high press, as Alessandro Diamanti weighted a beautiful chip over the top of the Glory backline to the advantage of Lachie Wales, who squared the ball to in-form striker Noah Botic, who controlled the ball with his chest in an excellent fashion and then volleyed the ball home with a similar class.
It was a quick-fire double from the hosts, and on the balance of play, they were extremely fortunate to be ahead at the break.
In the second half, Glory tried to manufacture an equaliser, but they just didn’t have the cutting edge to create high-quality chances or convert them.
Jack Clisby’s volley from close range was saved by Young, Salim Khelifi’s strike was very unlucky not to go in as it smacked against the post and Adam Taggart’s header was also saved by Young.
These opportunities were created not long from each other, but as mentioned previously, the Glory just didn’t have that cutting edge or that clinical eye for goal, to be ruthless and punish the opposition.
In terms of my thoughts on the game, it’s another big, missed opportunity for the Glory.
As I said at the beginning of this review, this is now our sixth game in a row without a win. To make matters worse, yesterday’s loss was our fourth game in our last five that we have dropped points from winning positions.
Just think for a moment – if we had won those four games, including yesterday’s, we would be in the top four.
But instead, we’re entering a familiar pattern that’s been present since the start of the season. Away from home, we’re a toothless side that gifts the opposition points.
In our ten games away from home, we’ve only won on one occasion. We’ve scored only eight goals and conceded nineteen.
Unfortunately, at this moment, the Glory are just an okay team. We do have some top players, but as a team, ask yourself if we look like a side that could cause some damage should it somehow make the top 6.
Keegan Jelacic can’t do it all by himself, as for me, he was the best player yesterday. The young man created the most chances (five), completed the most dribbles (five) and won the most duels (nine).
Is the top six a realistic goal at this point? Probably not. We’d need to go on a pretty serious winning streak and hope a few of the teams ahead of us drop some points.
This is unfortunately looking like another season without the finals, which will make it our third season in a row that we’ve failed to reach the top six.
To make matters worse, Tunisian winger Salim Khelifi will be out for the rest of the season, as this was confirmed by head coach Ruben Zadkovich during his post-game press conference.
I think looking ahead to next season, it’s pretty clear that the Glory are going to have to review some key components of this season.
How we’ve dropped that many points in varying situations, whether it be from winning positions or just poor performances from home, needs to be fixed.
How we’re conceding so many goals, despite utilising a back five is a mystery to me. Why we aren’t creating and scoring enough goals is another concern.
That’s some questions that need to be answered in the long term.
As for the Glory’s immediate future, they will be heading back to Perth, and they’ll be taking on a rampant Western Sydney Wanderers side at HBF Park next Friday night.
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