Melbourne Victory saw its winning run to begin the season come to an end with a 3-0 loss to Perth Glory in the Isuzu UTE A-League.
Summary
A first-half red card to Rai Marchan at AAMI Park on Sunday changed the complexion of the Round 3 encounter.
Perth made the most of its numerical advantage through goals from Antonee Burke-Gilroy, Ciaran Bramwell and Bruno Fornaroli as Victory’s winning run – which included four straight wins in all competitions – came to an end.
Victory goalkeeper Ivan Kelava was forced into the game’s first real stop in the eighth minute, denying Fornaroli.
The shot-stopper was also called into action in the 24th minute, this time tipping away a curling strike from Daniel Stynes.
Victory created a great chance 10 minutes before half-time when Nick D’Agostino picked out Marco Rojas, who was denied by a last-ditch challenge.
Similarly, Jonathan Aspropotamitis’ tackle denied D’Agostino after Jake Brimmer’s long-range strike was parried by Glory goalkeeper Cameron Cook as Victory started to look dangerous.
But the game turned on the stroke of half-time when Marchan was sent off for a high challenge on Aspropotamitis, having initially been shown a yellow card.
With Victory down to 10 men, Brimmer dropped into a deeper midfield role to begin the second half as Perth predictably controlled possession.
Perth almost opened the scoring in the 54th minute, but Fornaroli guided his header wide after Aaron Calver’s cross from the right.
Victory threatened as Ben Folami got in behind, only for Perth to clear, before Kelava had to keep out Stynes in the 62nd minute.
Brimmer tried his luck with a long-range free-kick two minutes later, curling an effort onto the roof of Cook’s net.
But Perth took the lead through Burke-Gilroy, whose powerful strike found the top corner from 20 yards in the 66th minute.
Glory doubled its advantage eight minutes later as Bramwell headed in a Burke-Gilroy cross to make it 2-0.
Fornaroli sealed Perth’s win with a 25-yard strike that went in off the inside of the post in the dying stages.
Victory thought it had a late penalty, awarded when Jason Davidson appeared to be brought down in the area, only for it to be overturned following a VAR check.
What they said – Davidson
on the game…
“That’s football. Red cards happen in games. It happened. We went into half-time saying we’ll keep a clean sheet and let’s battle, we knew it was going to be a tough second half and unfortunately once that first goal went in, it was a tough night for us after that.”
on the red card…
“On the pitch, I didn’t really see it from my point of view. I don’t think Rai saw the player, but it’s the ref’s decision. It’s a long season, those kinds of decisions go your way sometimes, they go against you sometimes and unfortunately tonight it wasn’t our night.”
Player in focus
Jason Geria worked hard against his former club in what marked his 100th Isuzu UTE A-League start for Victory, becoming just the 13th player to achieve that feat.
Implications
After four straight wins in all competitions, Victory was beaten for the first time in 2021/22. The result leaves it in second on the table.
Result
Isuzu UTE A-League 2021/22 Round 3
Melbourne Victory 0
Perth Glory 3 (Antonee Burke-Gilroy 66′, Ciaran Bramwell 74′, Bruno Fornaroli 88′)
Melbourne Victory: Kelava (gk); Geria, Hamill (Nigro 13′), Broxham, Davidson; Marchan, Brillante (c); Rojas (Brooks 82′), Brimmer (Kruse 82′), Folami (Velupillay 69′); D’Agostino (Margiotta 68′).
Perth Glory: Cook (gk); Calver (Rawlins 59′), Aspropotamitis, Lachman; Ota (Niyongabire 61′), Burke-Gilroy, Bodnar, Clisby; Stynes, Fornaroli (c), Sardinero (Bramwell 68′).
Yellow cards: Ota 15′, Fornaroli 45+6′, Niyongabire 78′
Red cards: Marchan 45+3′
Attendance: TBA
Venue: AAMI Park
Next up
Victory makes the trip to Coopers Stadium to face Adelaide United on December 11.
