Perth Glory has crushed a 10-man Newcastle Jets 6-1 at Hunter Stadium on Sunday to breathe new life into their Hyundai A-League finals hopes.
Despite going behind to an early Milos Trifunovic goal, Glory battered the home side to increase their unbeaten record against the Jets to an incredible 12 games.
Chris Harold started the rout midway through the first half before a crazy end to the half saw Diego Castro edge Perth in front a minute before Nigel Boogaard was sent off for the Jets.
Glory showed no mercy after the break as further goals to Harold, Alex Grant, Castro and a Daniel Mullen own goal allowed the visitors to register their biggest-ever A-League win.
Perth has now leap-frogged the Jets into seventh spot, seven points behind sixth-placed Adelaide United.
GOALS
1-0 Trifunovic (14’) – The Serbian wasn’t picked up from a corner, making the most of David Carney’s excellent delivery to get to the near post and glance his header past Ante Covic.
1-1 Harold (24’) – Glory right-back Josh Risdon cut back onto his left foot, getting a metre of space on Ryan Kitto to get a cross in. And it was a pin-point one, picking out Harold six yards out who made no mistake with his header.
1-2 Castro (45’) – A move that started deep in Glory’s half ended with Castro getting possession on the edge of the box. He put on a slick move to get around Lachlan Jackson before blasting a powerful strike past Mark Birighitti.
1-3 Mullen (og) (48’) – Castro picked out Nebojsa Marinkovic on the right of the box, with the Serbian playing in a teasing ball across the six-yard box which Mullen tried to clear for a corner, only succeeding in hacking it into his own net.
1-4 Harold (54’) – Gyorgy Sandor was given too much time on the edge of the box, rewarding Harold’s run in behind the Jets defence with an exquisite pass which the speedster smashed high into the net from a tight angle.
1-5 Grant (74’) – Woeful defending at a corner by the Jets. Grant left totally unmarked from about six yards out to head in Mitchell Oxborrow’s centre. Grant’s first A-League goal coming just a day after his 21st birthday.
1-6 Castro (88’) – Risdon picked out Castro in the box, the Spaniard showing great feet to dribble past a couple of Jets defenders and rolling it home into the bottom, far corner.
KEY MOMENT
The first goal is often so important in the Hyundai A-League but it proved different for the Jets in this one.
The home side were excellent in the first 15 minutes, opening up Glory’s defence regularly and could have had a couple of goals before Trifunovic’s strike.
But as soon as they went in front Newcastle seemed to stop playing and Glory took over. They dominated the rest of the contest and added the goals to go with their eye-catching play.
OPTA DATA KEY STATS
-Prior to this game, Newcastle had only conceded two goals in their last three home matches,
-The Jets’ goal from a corner means that eight of their 13 goals so far this season have come from set pieces.
-Glory finally broke their duck away from home this season, with the crushing win the first on their travels in 2015/16.
-Boogaard’s dismissal takes his red card tally in the Hyundai to eight in his career, and the second time he’s been sent off this season.
HIGHLIGHTS REEL
Glory aren’t always associated with sublime football but their second goal just before the break was a thing of beauty.
Starting inside their own half, Glory produced a move which swung from one side of the pitch to the other, spanning 15 passes and involving seven different player.
Castro put the icing on the cake, dropping the shoulder to get past Jackson and finishing with aplomb. An exceptional team goal!
COACH KILLER
Already down 2-1, Jets skipper Nigel Boogaard had a brain explosion right on the strike of half-time.
Picking up a yellow card just 10 minutes earlier, Boogaard foolishly slid in to a challenge on Risdon but got nowhere near the ball.
It left referee Shaun Evans with little choice but to brandish a second yellow and an early shower for Boogaard, giving his side a mountain to climb and much to the anger of coach Scott Miller.
THE FINAL WORD
The Jets were unable to build on their breakthrough win last weekend…but they only have themselves to blame. After making an ideal start, Miller’s men switched off and paid the ultimate price. How demoralising the big defeat will be only time will tell. Until they can maintain their best level for longer periods, Newcastle will continue to struggle. They travel to a red-hot Adelaide United next Sunday.
What a massive confidence boost this will be for the Glory to attack the second half of the season. While they still have plenty of work to do to chase down the top six, this is the perfect launching pad. Some brilliant football and magnificent goals to go with it. Just the tonic before they host Melbourne Victory next Saturday night.
TEAMS:
Newcastle Jets: Birighitti (gk), Hoffman, Mullen, Boogaard (c), Jackson, Alivodic, Poljak, Watson (Cowburn 46’), Kitto, Trifunovic (Leonardo 57’), Carney (Crowley 77’)
Perth Glory: Covic (gk), Risdon (c), Williams, Grant, Warren, Sandor, Oxborrow (Garcia 74’), Ferreira, Marinkovic (Reiners 73’), Harold (Keogh 62’), Castro
Scorers: Trifunovic 14’, Harold 24’, Castro 45’, Mullen (og) 48’, Harold 54’, Grant 74’, Castro 88’
Red cards: Boogaard 45+1’
Yellow cards: Poljak 34’, Boogaard 34’, Boogaard 45+1’, Garcia 81’, Warren 86’
Conditions:Â 25C, Cloudy
Attendance:Â 9403 @ Hunter Stadium
