Perth finally played a home game and Jamie Maclaren gave the Glory its first victory of the young season, 1-0 over Melbourne Heart at the nib Stadium. After failing to score last week at Newcastle, Perth were buoyed by their young striker putting one past Heart while the visitors are reeling after a decent start to the season. Michael Mifsud made his debut for Melbourne but Patrick Kisnorbo was lost to injury in the second half, adding to the mounting absences of Heart’s key offseason acquisitions.
Jamie Maclaren gives Perth Glory its first win
20-year-old striker scored the game’s only goal as the home side took all three points for the first time this season
Paul Kane
Heart, who were without Harry Kewell again due to whiplash suffered in the season opener, had a difficult time finding Mifsud, the Maltese international who was in Europe until this week. Though David Williams scored twice last weekend, and nearly found an equalizer in injury time on Sunday, the Melbourne side are in dire need of attacking options. To be fair, if Williams’ long-range shot had not been saved by Danny Vukovic, the tenor of discussion would be very different, yet clearly something is missing from John Aloisi’s side. Kisnorbo’s injury makes things worse, though Aloisi expressed confidence afterward that it was not an ACL tear.
The home side were unlucky not to score several more as Sidnei hit the post and Scott Jamieson the crossbar in the first half. The Glory controlled nearly 60% of possession and were simply the better team against Heart. Despite all of Heart’s offensive problems, the result is also promising for Perth on the defensive side. Josh Risdon missed his first game of an expected eight week absence after injuring his knee last weekend in Newcastle. A clean sheet without Risdon or the newly signed William Gallas will be encouraging for Alistair Edwards as his side look likely to repeat last season’s difficulty in scoring goals. The Glory scored the fewest goals in the A-League in 2012/13, despite reaching the finals.
Perth get to stay at home in Western Australia for another week as they welcome troubled Sydney FC to nib Stadium on Saturday November 2. Heart must play at Suncorp Stadium against Brisbane Roar on Sunday November 3 as they seek their first win of 2013/14.
Scoring:
PER Maclaren 50’
Line-ups:
Perth Glory: Vukovic; Jamieson, Thwaite, Pantelidis, Davies; Nagai (Harold 76’), McGarry, Burns; Sidnei, R. Edwards; Maclaren (De Silva 72’)
Unused subs: Duncan, O’Neill, C. Edwards
Melbourne Heart: Redmayne; Behich (Mauk 86’), Wielaert, Kisnorbo (Gerhardt 52’), Hoffman; Mebrahtu (Dugandzic 75’), Migliorini, Murdocca; Ramsay, Williams; Mifsud
Unused subs: Velaphi, Retre
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