Sydney FC have desperately hung on against a Perth Glory onslaught to record a thrilling 1-0 victory at nib Stadium on Saturday night.
Sydney FC have desperately hung on against a Perth Glory onslaught to record a thrilling 1-0 victory at nib Stadium on Saturday night.
Mark Bridge scored the only goal of the evening during first-half injury time as he tucked home a pin-point cross from Nick Carle.
But Glory fans still had reason for optimism after their side unleashed a spectacular second-half assault on the Sydney goal.
Yet despite shots from Shane Smeltz going narrowly wide and Adam Hughes hitting a cracking effort into the bar, Sydney held on for the three points to climb into second on the Hyundai A-League table as Perth drops to third through their third straight loss.
Coming off two consecutive away losses on the road, Glory coach Ian Ferguson made two changes to his side, dropping Travis Dodd and Todd Howarth to the bench as Andrezinho and Josh Mitchell were promoted to the starting XI.
With the lightning quick Andrezinho storming down the left flank again, it was no surprise Perth created several promising attacking moves in the game’s initial stages, without really threatening.
The Sky Blues, meanwhile, looked to catch Perth on the break, and it was through one of these moves in the 23rd minute they created their first chance as Karol Kisel nodded the ball wide.
In the 35th minute, Perth created a good chance, when a crafty pass from Billy Mehmet set up Liam Miller. But instead of shooting from the edge of the box, Miller tried sidestepping around the defence and, off-balance from his efforts, could only direct a weak shot at Liam Reddy.
Sydney made Perth pay for the missed chance during first-half injury time as an attacking run from Miller broke down.
A clearing kick from defence found Bridge in midfield and the striker picked out Carle on the left edge of the box. Carle still had plenty of work to do, as he turned Josh Risdon inside out, but Sydney’s marquee man was good enough to fire in a superb cross that allowed Bridge to tuck home.
A quiet opening to the second period was transformed in the 55th minute when Travis Dodd and Mile Sterjovski were brought onto the left and right flanks respectively, with Andrezinho and Josh Risdon making way.
It was former Qantas Socceroo Sterjovski’s first appearance for the club all season, while Dodd was clearly smarting from his demotion as he sparked a rampant period for Perth, who produced wave after wave of attacks.
Dodd had been on the field less than two minutes when he delivered a great cross from the left for Chris Coyne, who ran the length of the field, only to narrowly nod over.
In the 61st minute Bas van den Brink’s bouncing header was tipped around the post by Reddy, who suddenly found himself under real pressure as Dodd fired a chance wide in the 65th minute before Smeltz was brilliantly set up by Sterjovski two minutes later, only for the striker to fire inches wide.
Having earned a free kick on the edge of the box, Miller saw his goalbound shot brilliantly tipped around the post in the 71st minute, before Sterjovski fired over the bar seconds later.
With 11 minutes remaining Hughes drove an unstoppable 30-metre rocket into the crossbar but as the minutes ticked down Perth became increasingly desperate for a well-earned equaliser.
During injury time, Glory stopper Danny Vukovic came within inches of being the hero as he ran forward for a late corner and saw his bouncing header tipped over the bar by Reddy.
Reddy was forced into more heroics as Glory unleashed a dangerous series of late corners but the Sky Blues’ defence held firm for the third win in the last four matches.
Perth Glory 0
Sydney FC 1 (Bridge 45)
Crowd: 9046 at nib Stadium, Perth
