Perth Glory scored two goals in the space of five minutes to secure a 2-1 come-from-behind victory against Macarthur in a memorable Macedonia Park farewell.
Macarthur grabbed the lead against the run of play through Lachlan Rose in the 43rd minute of Saturday night’s match.
But Glory hit back in devastating fashion in the second half, with headed goals from Adam Taggart and defender Mark Beevers in the 69th and 74th minutes sending the home crowd into raptures.
The win lifted Glory into seventh spot, just one point behind sixth-placed Sydney FC with four rounds remaining.
Macarthur are two points behind Glory in 10th spot.
Saturday’s result marked the perfect farewell to Glory’s temporary home ground of Macedonia Park.
Glory finished with five wins, four draws, and just one loss from their 10 appearances at the stadium, which was being used while HBF Park was being upgraded for the women’s World Cup.
“I thought we deserved the win. We controlled the contest for most of it,” Glory coach Ruben Zadkovich said.
“We were very unlucky to go in 1-0 down. To concede so close to halftime is always difficult, because the first reaction is negative.
“But it didn’t take the boys long in that dressing room – I could see in their eyes the belief was big.”
Glory will be sweating on the fitness of midfielder Aaron McEneff, who limped off in the 21st minute with a quad injury.
Perth enjoyed 61 per cent possession in the first half and had the best looks on goal, but it was Macarthur who went into the break with a 1-0 lead courtesy of some Rose magic.
Rose evaded a couple of Glory defenders before drilling a low left-foot strike to beat diving goalkeeper Cameron Cook.
It was a cruel blow for Glory after they had created a series of good chances.
Taggart had a close-range shot well blocked by goalkeeper Filip Kurto in the third minute, and he sent a 22nd-minute volley just wide.
Keegan Jelacic’s goal in the 33rd minute was ruled out by VAR for offside.
Rose’s goal, which was Macarthur’s only shot on target for the first half, sucked the life out of the crowd, but it didn’t take long until they were pumping again.
Taggart headed home from point-blank range at the far post following a pinpoint cross from Ryan Williams.
Beevers gave Glory the lead five minutes later when he rose high between two defenders to head home Jacob Dowse’s cross.
“Going into halftime 1-0 up, it does feel like it got away from us, so pretty disappointed,” Bulls coach Mile Sterjovski said.
“There’s a lot on the line, we’re still trying to make the top six. We can still make it, we’re only a win away.”
