It was one of those games.
A few grumbles of “typical Glory” were heard as fans left HBF Park, as Perth Glory drew 2-2 with the Newcastle Jets in Alen Stajcic’s first game as head coach.
It was a game where perhaps the Glory could’ve and probably should’ve won, but ultimately it was a case of deja vu against the same opposition the team struggled against last season.
Stajcic’s side started the game really well, as Glory found themselves 1-0 up after the opening minute.
Some good pressure from Luke Ivanovic on Jason Berthomier saw the ball get turned over in the Glory’s attacking half.
Ivanovic drove down the byeline, chipped the ball up to the back post to which young gun Daniel Bennie met the cross with a looping header and then Adam Taggart tapped home the rebound.
It was a pretty decent opening 10 minutes from the Glory.
Then came an absolute missile from Kostandinos Grozos outside the box that squared the game up four minutes later.
It was a great strike in fairness, as Grozos struck the ball with some venom giving Oli Sail next to no chance in goal.
Glory did wrestle back the momentum a little bit after the goal but from there until halftime, the game ebbed and flowed, with both sides not taking ultimate control of the game.
Stajcic’s side took back the lead in the 64th minute with substitute Stefan Colakovski slotting home a really composed finish following some great work from Adam Taggart and Giordano Colli respectively.
From there Glory really took control and created some really good chances. Oliver Bozanic had a great chance to make it 3-1 only for Ryan Scott to make a solid save to palm it away for a corner.
Around 15 minutes to go, it was patently obvious that the Glory parked the double-decker bus in front of their goal.
A risky strategy that looked like it was gonna pay off until a dubious call from the referee saw Newcastle have a free kick in added time.
Grozos whipped in an enticing free kick to which Apostolos Stamatelopoulos headed home into an empty net following Oli Sail missing his punch.
So in terms of my personal thoughts of the game, very simple, we should’ve won.
I think we created some really good opportunities which I felt were off the back of a much better structure and philosophy created by Alen Stajcic and his coaching staff.
We have a plan, and that’s important, because in this process if we win, lose or draw it’s critical that we as fans can at least see what the players are trying to do and I thought we did.
I’d argue typical Round One rust denied us from profiting more in front of goal.
That being said, there are definitely areas needed for improvement.
Both of the goals we conceded were soft and avoidable. Aside from the goals, Newcastle barely created high-quality chances.
If you take a look at the expected goals metric, there’s no doubt the numbers would infuriate Stajcic and his coaching staff, with the Glory accumulating an xG of 2.38 compared to the Jets’ 0.45.
Second, defensively we were way too passive at times. Dropping off and not closing down the player on the ball, exactly why we conceded the first goal.
Ultimately we should’ve gotten three points from this game, but we didn’t.
Having said that, there are good signs with this Glory side and with a few players set to come back from injury, I imagine we’ll see a much more improved performance this week.
Our focus now turns to the Distance Darby with Glory taking on Wellington away from home.
A difficult travel as always but a game that Stajcic’s side have got to get the three points!
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