Melbourne Victory has been defeated 2-0 by Perth Glory in the National Youth League match at Green Gully Reserve on Sunday afternoon.
Melbourne Victory has been defeated 2-0 by Perth Glory in the National Youth League match at Green Gully Reserve on Sunday afternoon.
A goal in each half from Argentinian striker Adrian Trinidad sealed all three points for the Glory, while the Victory remain winless from their opening two games.
Both teams started slowly, but it was Melbourne that could have had a goal from any of three chances to Dimi Hatzimouratis.
The first came in the 17th minute, after a good ball from Aziz Behich released Hatzimouratis clear on goal. But he slipped at the crucial moment and couldn’t beat Glory keeper Tando Velaphi.
Then just a minute later he latched onto a brilliant through ball from Nick Ward, but blasted his volley wide.
And again Hatztmouratis found himself one on one with the keeper in the 21st minute, running on to Leigh Broxham’s long ball and beating Velaphi with his low shot only to see it bounce back off the post.
Nick Ward continued his recovery from injury, playing 45 minutes and causing havoc for the Perth defence.
But eventually it was Perth who took the lead, Adrian Trinidad tapping in at the backpost after Victory keeper Mijo Marinovic had misjudged a corner kick in the 34th minute.
The Victory nearly had an equaliser in the opening minute of the second half, but Aziz Behich couldn’t beat Velaphi from a tight angle after ghosting through the defence.
The match took another turn after Steve Pantelidis received a straight red card after an altercation with Trinidad, leaving the Victory to play with 10 men for the remaining half hour.
Despite being a man down, the Victory continued to attack, and Broxham should have done better with his effort on 60 minutes, which Velaphi saved easily.
Perth were always a threat going forward, and substitute Ludovic Boi could have put the result beyond doubt in the 64th minute. Trinidad drew a defender and played Boi into space inside the penalty area, but his shot was just across the face.
Steven Pace and Aziz Behich both hit the upright in the dying minutes to give Perth a late scare, but Trinidad finally sealed the win for the Glory with seconds remaining in the game, slamming the ball into the bottom corner of the net.
Melbourne coach Mehmet Durakovic said that his team was improving despite the poor results.
“I think there were good signs, positive signs. We really played well in the first half and then we had a man sent off early in the second, but it was a credit to the boys, they played well,” Durakovic said.
“I think we gelled really well together, we hit the post a few times, even with a man down I thought we took the game up to them,” he said.
