A Bruno Cazarine brace has helped Sydney break through for their first win of the season as the Sky Blues easily accounted for Perth Glory in a 3-0 win at nib Stadium on Sunday evening.
Cazarine opened the scoring with a 25th-minute header before nailing the decisive third goal with eight minutes left on the clock.
In between, Alex Brosque scored his third goal of the season as he fired home a typically opportunistic effort just after the break as Sydney brutally exposed the Glory’s lack of finishing touch.
The result may not be enough to take the defending champions off the bottom of the Hyundai A-League table, but coach Vitezslav Lavicka was hopeful the club’s first win in Perth since the 2005-06 season will help kick start a good finish to the campaign.
“We waited a long time for the first victory this season,” Lavicka said.
“There was a lot of criticism, first part of this season towards us, especially after the last game in Melbourne, but this is the right answer from the team.”
“I am very happy and I am satisfied. It’s only one step forwards but an important step for us.”
Having seen his side now concede a record six straight losses, Glory interim coach Ian Ferguson was almost lost for words.
“It wasn’t good enough pure and simple,” Ferguson declared.
“Bad performance, not Perth Glory-like, I’m disappointed.”
In response to losses the previous week, both sides made several changes to their line-ups in an effort to freshen things up.
The Glory dropped last season’s best player Andy Todd and fellow defender Naum Sekulovski altogether as Australian marquee Mile Sterjovski and Anthony Skorich moved to the bench, with Robbie Fowler, Jamie Harnwell and Branko Jelic featuring in the first XI.
Sydney also dropped Stuart Musialik from the squad, while Ivan Necevski played his first game of the season ahead of Liam Reddy, as Mark Bridge moved onto the bench.
The changes resulted in a somewhat uneven opening to the encounter, where Glory striker Michael Baird threatened on a couple of occasions, firstly forcing a desperate clearance from former Perth man Hayden Foxe close to goal, before Baird headed wide in the 17th minute from an excellent build-up.
Cazarine had already missed a half-chance to head his side into the lead in the sixth minute, but he made no mistake in the 25th as he climbed high to beat Glory defender Todd Howarth and nod the ball in from Sung-Hwan Byun’s free kick.
Opening the score seemed to settle the nerves for Sydney a little and they should have moved further ahead in the 39th minute when Brosque beat the off-side trap and raced through on goal, only to be denied by a brilliant Scott Neville tackle from the side.
Perth upped the intensity after the break and had a call for a penalty denied in the 47th minute when Baird was bundled over in the box, before the Glory striker shot narrowly wide a minute later.
But for all Perth’s hard work, they found themselves further behind when desperate Sydney skipper Terry McFlynn created a chance from nothing.
Showing no regard for life or limb, McFlynn hurled his body in to take possession away from the Glory, the ball falling to Shannon Cole on the right, whose cross was tucked home by Brosque in the 53rd minute.
The Glory continued to press as Jelic nodded wide in the 57th minute while the Perth players also appealed for a handball in the penalty area on the hour as the ball ricocheted around a nest of Sky Blue defenders.
But Sydney soon re-took the ascendancy as Glory stopped Aleks Vrteski denied Alex Brosque twice in 60 seconds with 20 minutes left on the clock.
It wasn’t enough to galvanise his side, however, and Sydney soon added a decisive third when Cazarine raced forward in the 82nd minute, easily beating Jamie Harnwell for pace before sliding in a cool finish.
Perth Glory 0
Sydney FC (Cazarine 25, 82, Brosque 53)
Crowd: 8870 at nib Stadium, Perth
