Perth Glory have leapfrogged Melbourne Heart into fourth place on the National Youth League standings with a 4-1 win at Intiga Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Perth Glory have leapfrogged Melbourne Heart into fourth place on the National Youth League standings with a 4-1 win at Intiga Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Perth will take most pleasure from the performance of new Argentinian recruit Mattias Cordoba, who scored a goal and provided an assist, with Adrian Zahra, Borbor Sam and Slobodan Vulin the other goal scorers.
Melbourne started the match with a plus-three goal difference in fourth spot on the standings, while Perth were in seventh on a minus-two goal difference.
However, the 4-1 result meant a six-goal swing in the goal difference and with both teams level on 25 points, Perth move ahead of Heart.
After a tame start to the match, Cordoba showed his class to open the scoring with a calm side-footed finish from a slick Matthew Davies cross from the right in the 28th-minute.
Perth doubled their lead after 50 minutes when the smallest man on the pitch Zahra got on the end of a Brandon O’Neill cross at the back post and hit it back past Bray in goal.
Borbor Sam put the result beyond doubt when he got in behind the defence in the 78th-minute.
Slobodan Vulin took advantage of a scramble in the box to stroke home Perth’s fourth in the 82nd-minute.
Andrew Mullett secured a consolation goal at the end of regulation time when he headed home a Stefan Mauk cross from the right.
It was one of the few chances Melbourne had produced in the entire game as they only created two shots in the first half.
The first of these was a long-range effort from Ben Garuccio, which failed to challenge Lewis Italiano in the Perth goal and the second a mistimed header from captain Josh Groenwalld.
Heart looked an improved team to start the second half as Groenwalld missed a header at the back post before Perth went down the other end to score their second goal.
Earlier in the match, Ndumba Makeche was active upfront without being able to produce clear-cut chances.
Jack Clisby went just wide with a long-range strike after he stormed through the midfield and let rip with his left foot while Zahra showed his flair with an attempted scissor-kick from a corner.
Perth Glory 4 (Corboda 28, Zahra 50, Sam 78, Vulin 82)
Melbourne Heart 1 (Mullett 89)
Perth Glory: 1. Lewis Italiano (GK), 2. Matthew Davies, 3. Ryan Lowry (c) 4. Jack Clisby, 5. Riley Woodcock (12. Evan Burger 58) 6. Brandon O’Neill, 7. Adrian Zahra, 8. Storm Roux, 9. Ndumba Makeche (13. Borbor Sam 58), 10. Mattias Cordoba, 11. Andrew Higgins (14. Slobodan Vulin 58)
Melbourne Heart: 1. Alastair Bray (GK), 2. Phillip Petreski, 3. Cameron Edwards, 4. Andrew Mullett, 5. William Abott (9. Wade Decker 62), 6. Josh Groenwalld (c) (15. Ricardo Gonzales), 7. Ersin Kaya, 8. Paulo Retre, 10. Stefan Mauk, 11. Ben Garuccio, 12. Tyler James (14. Andrew Cartanos 62)
