Perth came out of the blocks rearing, fresh from a humilating loss last time out against the Sky Blues and keen to imprint on the league that they are truly the Premiers-elect.

This isn't to mention that the reigning Champions, and the side generally favoured to be Perth's greatest challenge this season, had suffered their own scuppering defeat to Adelaide United minutes earlier.

Mentality was quickly put in practice as Joel Chianese found his goalscoring form, right in the nick of time for Tony Popovic as Chris Ikonomidis is on Socceroos duty. The forward scored a flashy brace and Brendon Santalab wound back the clock to add a third before half-time.

Sydney emerged a far more composed outfit in the second half but to little avail, Adam le Fondre's not-so-freak-for-ALF effort a mere consolation against a Perth side that never looked out of second gear.

PERTH GLORY

Liam Reddy - 7

Relatively untroubled in the first half, made one cracking, unsighted save in the second.

Shane Lowry - 8

Stayed strong as part of a resolute Glory backline - his passing is a fantastic asset for Perth as they look to build slowly out of defence, it really destroys momentum-seeking opposition after Glory take an early lead. 

Matthew Spiranovic - 7  

Smooth, reliable ball movement helped Perth remain poised. He's settling back into the A-League well.

Tomislav Mrcela - 7       

Determined and capable, especially valuable from aerial duels. More than a little Dino Djulbic about him.

Ivan Franjic - 6      

Not particularly valuable going forward and looked lethargic on the ball at times, but defended calmly and his experience pays dividends, much like Jason Davidson.

Jason Davidson - 8 

Played a significant role down the left as Perth chose to favour his partnership with Diego Castro, one of his best matches this season. 

Juande - 6      

Physical presence in midfield, combined well with Neil Kilkenny, but lost his head a little in the second.

Neil Kilkenny - 8    

Fantastic display, including a centimetre perfect ball to Chianese for the forward’s second goal. Has 238-odd more passes than anybody else in Perth's side, an incredible statistic.

Brendon Santalab - 7      

Fantastic finish to send Perth into half-time with a three goal advantage, dreams of scoring against Sky Blue.

Joel Chianese - 8

One of – if not his best – performances in the A-League. Sensational close control and well-deserving of a brace, could have had a hat-trick.

Diego Castro - 7    

Like a fine wine, Castro just gets better with age. Exerts his influence effortlessly and with sublime style, but lost the ball a few too many times in the second. We'll put it down to match fitness.

SUBS

Andy Keogh - 6

Is he going to Melbourne City? Didn't do anything to prove otherwise...

Scott Neville - 7

Only on for a few minutes, but he bombed forward purposefully, transitioned possession intelligently and generally had a fantastic influence.

Jacob Italiano - N/A

SYDNEY FC

Andrew Redmayne - 6

He would have had to be in pretty impressive form to stop any of Perth’s three goals, but he wasn’t up to the task. Caught in no man’s land on occasion.  

Paulo Retre - 5       

Had very little influence throughout the match and defended ineffectively.

Michael Zullo - 5   

Poor in attack and defence, some very sloppy passing and crosses, lost his markers defensively. Slight resurgence in the second half.

Aaron Calver - 5    

Porous defensively, his physicality not quite enough to keep him competitive against the upper echelon of the league.

Alex Wilkinson - 4 

Failed to mark, failed to regiment his backline, a poor leadership display in the first half.

Joshua Brillante - 5

Lost control of the midfield and not for the first time this season, subbed relatively early in the second half.

Siem de Jong - 7     

One of the few attacking threats Sydney possessed, but was fighting a losing battle.

Brandon O'Neill - 6

A more composed performance than his midfield partner in Brillante, but still left a lot to be desired. Although he put in a few strong challenges in the second half, couldn't impress himself on the match.

Milos Ninkovic - 5

Very quiet, he seems to be unusually hit-and-miss this season. His passing in particular, a facet of his game that should be relatively consistent given his marquee status, was disappointing.

Adam Le Fondre - 7

None of Sydney’s frontline were active, but ALF was significantly underdone, largely abandoned by a midfield unable to penetrate through Perth's dogged marking. The second he had a sniff at goal, he buried a phenomenal shot - almost worth the plane trip over alone for Sydney's fans. 

Alex Brosque - 5

Looked off the pace, a huge turnaround from his last outing against the Central Coast Mariners.   

SUBS

Daniel De Silva - 7

Impressed working against a hardy defensive press, seemed most likely to offer something creative, yet whenever it seemed Sydney were building momentum, Perth would strangle the life out of them.

Anthony Caceres - 6

Put himself about and crafted a semi-decent chance out of nothing.

Luke Ivanovic - N/A