It’s been a dream night for Mile Sterjovski, who celebrated his daughter’s birth by scoring in Perth Glory’s 2-0 victory over 10-man Gold Coast United on Saturday night.
On a hot and almost breathless night at Perth’s nib Stadium, the Glory proved too good for an undisciplined Gold Coast, who gave away two silly penalties either side of half-time.
The first of these was a terrible handball by Zachary Anderson that Sterjovski converted with aplomb as he celebrated the birth of his third child, Lilly, on Friday morning.
And, Shane Smeltz made no mistake from the spot after Ben Halloran’s poor challenge on Andrezinho in the 53rd minute, condemning United to their fifth consecutive defeat as Perth climbed into fourth on the Hyundai A-League table.
Despite the temperature being just above thirty degrees at kick-off, the Glory opened at a frantic pace in a bid to put last week’s nightmare against Brisbane behind them.
As early as the third minute the hosts were creating chances as Andrezinho’s cross narrowly missed a lurking Billy Mehmet, while moments later Smeltz scuffed a headed chance from seven metres out.
Mehmet struck a shot wide when he had time to do better in the 12th minute while Glory fans were appealing for a handball four minutes later as Sterjovski’s cross smashed into Adama Traore’s arm four minutes later.
While that handball was somewhat contentious, there was no doubt when United defender Anderson suffered a horrible brain snap in the 19th minute as he lifted both hands above his head to touch a Sterjovski corner from the right.
Sterjovski stepped up to take the penalty and the former Qantas Socceroo made no mistake as he sent ‘keeper Glen Moss the wrong way.
Jonas Salley almost immediately replied for United as he nodded over from the re-start but from then on Glory continued their dominance of possession, without creating too many clear-cut chances.
As the half progressed, Perth’s breakneck pace took its toll in the extreme heat, but United couldn’t take advantage as James Brown struck a volleyed effort wide before Dylan Macallister nodded over from a good position three minutes before the break.
Gold Coast continued taking the match to Perth after the re-start as Traore produced a blistering run down the left in the 51st minute before cutting the ball back for Brown, who smashed his shot almost straight at Danny Vukovic.
The missed chance proved costly, however, as Glory doubled the advantage two minutes later as Andrezinho accelerated towards goal and was brought down just inside the box by a clumsy challenge from Ben Halloran.
This time it was Smeltz who stepped up to take the penalty, the striker selling the dummy to Moss, who dived to his right as the former Gold Coast striker drove it home down the middle.
Matters just got worse for Gold Coast in the 62nd minute when Anderson suffered another brain snap, this time crudely bringing down a rampaging Andrezinho to receive his second caution and an early shower.
However, being down to 10 men seemed to free up some space for United through the middle as the visitors produced some of their best football for the evening in the latter stages.
In the 72nd minute Glory defender Trent McClenehan was forced into action, producing a well-timed tackle to deny Brown just as he shaped to shoot.
But it was still Glory who finished the strongest as Mehmet struck a powerful shot over the bar just moments before Liam Miller’s 30-metre rocket was well saved by Moss.
Perth Glory 2 (Sterjovski 20pen, Smeltz 54pen)
Gold Coast United 0
Crowd: 6484 at nib Stadium, Perth
