Fresh from their 4-0 thumping of Newcastle on Boxing Day, Glory started full of fire against an undermanned defence.

But Mile Sterjovski's shot against the upright in the seventh minute proved the closest Perth came to hitting the target, while top-of-the-table Sydney appeared content to simply soak up the pressure and try to catch their opponents on the counter.

The Sky Blues took until the 35th minute to earn their first corner, but as Glory dropped their intensity during the second half, substitute Sydney striker Chris Payne almost created some good late chances.

With second-placed Melbourne losing to Newcastle earlier in the afternoon, the result sees Sydney climb four points ahead of Victory on top of the A-League table, as Perth dropped to sixth position.

Glory were creating chances as early as the fourth minute, looking to expose a new-look Sydney backline missing regular starters Simon Colosimo and Sebastian Ryall.

The hosts' best chance of the half came in the seventh minute as the lively Todd Howarth delivered a cross from the left to Sterjovski. As the defence closed in, the Glory marquee man got his shot away but the ball ricocheted off the inside of the post, bouncing upwards for Anthony Golec to clear the ball away from Jamie Harnwell.

Glory were dominating possession for most of the half, knocking the ball around through midfield with ease and hardly being threatened down back by the Sydney forwards.

But unfortunately for Glory, Jamie Coyne failed to find a clinical finish, the stand-in midfielder missing three chances, the best of those coming on the half hour when he got a foot to a raking Adriano Pellegrino cross. But the ball bobbled upwards, allowing Clint Bolton to tap over the bar.

With Golec and Stephan Keller producing solid shifts in central defence for Sydney, Glory were struggling to produce effective passing within the box as Perth failed to turn their dominance in possession into effective chances.

Adriano Pellegrino saw a left-foot strike go wide with four minutes of the half remaining, before Sydney produced their best chance in the 45th minute as John Aloisi burst through the Glory defence, his low cross from the left coming within inches of Mark Bridge's desperate lunge.

Glory picked up where they left off in the second half as a corner picked out Jamie Coyne in the box just two minutes after the re-start, the midfielder not getting his shot away.

A flicked pass from Mile Sterjovski in the box almost set up a chance for Adriano Pellegrino in the 51st minute, but once again Sydney's defence held firm and cleared the lines.

As Glory's intensity waned, Sydney picked up the intensity, moving the ball fluidly through the midfield via skipper Steve Corica and Slovakian import Karol Kisel.

With Glory missing injured striker Branko Jelic's predatory instincts in the box, Jamie Harnwell flashed an effort wide in the 69th minute, before Glory came within inches of opening the scoring with 20 minutes remaining.

Three metres out, Harnwell got his head to a Burns corner from the left, his powerful nod slamming into Bolton and knocking him into the net, with

Terry McFlynn doing well to clear the ball off the line.

Both sides appeared to be wilting on a muggy afternoon in Perth, but it was Sydney that produced the better chances towards the death, Corica seeing a powerful strike rebound off Andy Todd before substitute striker Chris Payne, on for Aloisi, threatened towards the end.

Payne used his pace to great effect in the closing stages, the youngster bursting through from the midfield on two occasions. The first of which ended in Payne being called offside, but his second run with one minute remaining came close to busting through Glory's back four.

Payne slipped the ball past Todd but Scott Neville tracked him effectively, getting a toe to the ball just as Payne shaped to shoot, the chance going begging as scores finished deadlocked.