10-man Perth Glory made it three wins in a row for the first time in four-and-a-half years on Friday night as Sebastian Despotovski’s first-ever Isuzu UTE A-League goal saw them defeat Western Sydney Wanderers 1-0 at HBF Park.
Buoyed by their impressive win over Macarthur Bulls in Round 6, the home side had the better of the chances against the Wanderers in the first half; first, young forward Jaiden Kucharski fired wide of the target from the edge of the box before captain Adam Taggart then blazed high and wide from an out-swinging Tom Lawrence corner.
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The home side did make the breakthrough though, and it was a moment to remember in the 30th minute for young attacker Despotovski. The son of Glory great Bobby Despotovski, the 20-year-old was in the right place and the right time to nod home his first Isuzu UTE A-League goal, flicking Kucharski’s wayward strike into the back of the net to make it 1-0 to the home side.
However, disaster then struck from Adam Griffiths’ side. Booked for bringing down Aidan Simmons outside the Glory box in the 32nd minute, Perth defender Trent Ostler then received his marching orders just eight minutes later, shown a second yellow card for fouling Simmons once again, and Perth were reduced to 10-men.
Despite being down to 10, Glory thought they’d doubled their advantage shortly after the break, however Taggart’s close-range finish was ruled out after the ball was deemed to have previously gone out of play despite the best efforts of Brian Kaltak.
Starting to ramp up the pressure, Glory keeper Matt Sutton was forced into a reaction save in the 61st minute to deny the Wanderers as Kosta Barbarouses’ glancing header deflected off Aydan Hammond and darted towards goal.
Sutton then produced a stunning save in the 81st minute to keep the Wanderers at bay as he sprang into action on his line to tip Bozhidar Kraev’s close-range header over the bar.
New Zealand international Barbarouses then wasted a glorious chance, this time in the 86th minute, as he misjudged the flight of a ball into the box and somehow failed to test Sutton from close range as he lifted his volleyed effort harmlessly over the bar.
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However, despite the late drama Glory held on to seal a memorable win, which sees them move up into fourth place on the ladder having won their third match in a row for the first time in four-and-a-half years.
Meanwhile, the Wanderers head back to Western Sydney empty-handed and thoroughly disappointed after suffering their third loss of the season, a result which leaves them ninth on the ladder.
