Victory were made to rue their profligacy, wasting a number of chances during the match, ultimately costing the side its first win of this campaign.

Within moments of the kick-off, Perth were on the back foot as an incisive ball from Joe Keenan caused havoc in the penalty box, almost finding Costa Rican star Carlos Hernandez.

Melbourne were dealt a blow after 10 minutes when influential full back, Joe Keenan, was forced off with an apparent hamstring strain and replaced by Matthew Kemp.

Despite struggling to maintain possession for extended periods, Glory were still able to press forward and trouble the reigning champions, with Naum Sekulovski looking particularly menacing on the left flank.

After a patient build-up on the edge of the box, Thompson carved a magnificent chance for Hernandez, finding the Victory’s star recruit in space, but he wasn’t able to capitalise, dragging his shot well wide.

However, Hernandez almost atoned for his error moments after, threading a stunning through ball for Grant Brebner who moved in on goal and shot wide of the far post with only the goalkeeper to beat.

Archie Thompson was in ominous form throughout the first half, weaving his magic as he embarked on his trademark runs and caused endless problems for the Perth back four.

But after 25 minutes, Melbourne were fortunate not to be a man down after Steve Pantelidis received only a yellow card for kicking Sekulovski in the head when attempting to clear a high ball.

The incident spurred the away team into action, with Mate Dragicevic constantly overpowering the likes of Daniel Piorkowski and Vargas.

And the Croatian almost found the back of the net midway through the half, using his sheer power to burst through the defence before losing control of the ball when in sight of goal.

After a lull, Victory wrestled back control of the match with Thompson again the instigator, almost scoring a miracle goal as he chipped the ball over three consecutive opponents before acrobatically half-volleying agonisingly wide of the mark.

But while Thompson revelled in front of his home fans, Hernandez again seemed distinctively short of match fitness, only showing glimpses of brilliance as he found himself lacking the pace to penetrate Perth’s defence.

In a move to inject more speed into the attack, Hernandez was replaced at the break by whizz kid Kaz Patafta, who made an instant impact, impressively linking with the forward duo of Thompson and Danny Allsopp.

And it was another young Socceroo starlet who made an impact at the other end, as the fleet-footed Billy Celeski attempted to unlock the Melbourne rearguard with his turn of pace and pinpoint passing.

As the match approached the hour mark, Perth began to control proceedings with Leo Bertos coming to the fore on the right flank as he constantly rounded Pantelidis.

And on 58 minutes, a cross from that flank almost produced the opening goal, as Nikita Rukavytsya headed agonisingly wide from close range.

However, Perth’s period of domination proved short-lived, with the introduction of Leandro Love re-energising the Melbourne attack.

While lacking the silky skills of countryman Fred, the Brazilian more than compensated for that with his sheer exuberance, firing a chance high following a splendid run from Kemp with only 15 minutes remaining.

But in a stunning chain of events, both Melbourne and Perth wasted golden chances to secure their first win of the season as Dragicevic missed a stunning one-on-one opportunity, shooting into Theoklitos before Thompson was found flat-footed seconds later.

After Theoklitos smothered Dragicevic’s attempt, Victory launched a swift counter-attack, finding Thompson in metres of space.

However, he was thwarted by a brilliant last-ditch tackle from Dino Djulbic, who stopped the attacker in the penalty area.

Regardless though, Brebner almost repeated his heroics from last season, where he scored a winner against Perth in the dying minutes, launching a blistering strike which sailed just high of goal.

FourFourTwo Says: Naum Sekulovski probably won't remember much about this game. He's the lucky one.