Joel Chianese’s impressive brace proved crucial as Perth Glory disposed of Central Coast Mariners and kept their Finals Series hopes alive on Saturday night.
The ex-Sydney FC attacker netted in either half to help Kenny Lowe’s side close the gap on sixth-placed Adelaide to just three points, though the Reds have a game in hand.
It was the third brace of the striker’s A-League career and it came almost six years to the day since his last double in the competition.
The 28-year-old bagged two goals for Sydney FC on March 25th 2012 against the Newcastle Jets and March 30th 2012 against the Wellington Phoenix.
Check out some of the other key stats and facts from Glory’s big win over the Mariners.
- The 3-1 scoreline is the third time in which Perth have defeated the Central Coast by this scoreline; the Glory last beating the Mariners by this score at nib Stadium on April 5th 2014.
- Perth’s 3-1 victory continues a 100% record for the Glory at home; the Glory having never lost an A-League encounter at home when scoring 2+ goals in a game.
- Central Coast continue their goal-scoring on the road with the Mariners having now scored at least one goal in each of their of last eight away games this season.
- Perth’s comprehensive victory tonight was built on the back of their second-highest totals shots tally for the 2017/18 season. The Glory finishing with 18 total shots which ranks second only to the 20 they racked up against the Western Sydney Wanderers on January 28th 2018. It’s also the second-highest shots tally the Glory have accrued against the Mariners since the start of the A-League with their previous best being 21 on March 12th 2016.
