Perth Glory coach Kenny Lowe labelled Bruno Fornaroli’s opening goal on Sunday as “a bit contentious” but declared Melbourne City deserved their 2-0 win in Sunday’s Hyundai A-League Elimination Final.
Fornaroli appeared to make contact with Shane Lowry’s head as he sent a bicycle kick into the top corner in the 40th minute at AAMI Park, with the Glory defender staying down well after referee Chris Beath signalled a goal.
While Lowe clearly didn’t agree with Beath’s decision, he remained adamant that City deserved to progress to the semi-finals, with Fornaroli’s direct free-kick in the second half securing a 2-0 win.
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“I just thought [Fornaroli’s bicycle kick] was a high foot, you know,” Lowe said at his post-match press conference.
“I think it’s there for him [Fornaroli] to go for but if you kick somebody in the head, maybe you’ve got to blow the whistle.”
Lowe added: “We’ve had two now this year. We had one at Western Sydney and we had one here but I don’t want to harp on about that. They were the better team and they deserved it.
“So irrespective of whether he’s kicked someone in the head and he’s scored – I’d be disappointed if my centre-forward hadn’t done that – so there’s no qualms on that front.”
Glory’s season ended in but Lowe argued Perth are in a great position to fight for silverware in 2016-17 after he made significant changes to his squad in January.
Guyon Fernandez, Sidnei, Michael Thwaite and Antony Golec departed the club mid-season, while Lowe brought back striker Andy Keogh, plus signed Krisztian Vadocz and Shane Lowry.
The latter three were critical to Glory’s late-season revival, which saw them finish fifth after sitting ninth with 12 matches remaining.
Lowe will also have former A-League Golden Boot winner Adam Taggart available next season, while the 54-year-old revealed Perth are close to announcing more signings in the coming weeks.
“We’ve got a good group. They actually like each other, which is quite amazing, or they seem to, they seem to get on, which is always a plus,” he said.
“The environment that we work in, it’s a pleasure to come to work. I actually enjoy coming to work to work with these people and I can’t give them any higher credit than that.”
