It was a dreary day in the west but it was a lively game. Perth attacked with pace and purpose in the first half and then held on for the three points.

Melbourne Victory struggled to break down the vigilant and dogged Perth defence. There were few clear chances for the visitors and when there were chances Victory product Dino Djulbic was throwing himself in the way.

The result will have given Perth Glory a huge boost in the lead up to the finals. They probably feel like they won against twelve men with the ref lending Victory a few dubious early decisions.

Perth Glory

Liam Reddy 6 – thanks to the good work by the men in front of him he wasn’t heavily tested tonight. He stood strong when he needed to though.

Joseph Mills 6.5 – he’s been excellent for Perth this season. He was a constant threat down the left side and created a lot of good chances. He did his defensive work well.

Shane Lowry 7 – another great performance, especially to cope with all the late pressure Victory put on the Glory goal.

Dino Djulbic 7 – he blocked a lot of shots tonight. A lot. Sometimes he even meant to do it. Excellent defensive display.

Scott Neville 7 – put in a very nice cross for the first goal. Left a fair bit of space in behind him which Victory exploited, this might not have been entirely his fault.

Neil Kilkenny 8 – imperious display. He has made a huge difference to the Perth Glory team and he was excellent tonight. He positioned himself perfectly to intercept a lot of Victory passes and his creativity in possession was terrific.  

Andreu Guerao 6 – a solid display, he spent most of his time defending.

Xavier Torres 6 – another solid professional performance. Should have scored a goal but he skyed a very good chance.

Diego Castro 6.5 – this man is a wizard. Many times tonight he looked like he was controlling the ball with supernatural powers. He couldn’t seem to conjure up a second goal though.

Joel Chianese 6.5 – apparently he was the youngest Glory player in the starting XI at the young age of 28. He was looking really dangerous in the second half. He created some great openings and was a menace down the right. Then he was subbed.

Andrew Keogh – showed off his impressive neck muscles by contorting himself for a couple of headers, including for the first goal.

Subs

Adam Taggart 5 – looked good in patches with some great control but his job is to finish chances and he missed a few good ones tonight.

Chris Harold 5.5 – he came on for Chianese who had been tormenting Broxham but he give the Victory veteran a bit of a let off.

Chris Grant 6 – contributed to the backs to the wall defensive effort in the last period of the game.

Melbourne Victory

Lawrence Thomas 5 – his judgement was off and he nearly got himself sent off early on. He was very lucky after the first 15 minutes.

Leigh Broxham 5.5 – he was exposed a few times tonight but he was given a respite when Joel Chianese was substituted.

Rhys Williams 5.5 – not his best performance tonight. He missed a few forward passes he’d usually make and he took a while to stamp his authority on the game.  

James Donachie 6 – even though the goal was scored while he was marking Keogh, he was still the better performer of the Victory centre halves. He stopped a lot of good early Perth attacks and made some impressive goal saving blocks.

Thomas Deng 5.5 – a solid performance from the Victory youngster. He has big shoes to fill at right back, Geria had been so good for Victory for so long. Deng didn’t have the same attacking verve the team are used to on the flank. Whilst he got forward well a few times he didn’t beat many Glory players and Victory missed that. Especially when Broxham was equally as conservative down the left.

Carl Valeri 6 – tonight was one of his better performances for Victory this season but it was in a loss but hopefully it signifies an uptick in form before the finals.

Matias Sanchez 5 – despite some good passages of play he had a few moments of panic. He seems to have one or two of these moments every game.

Terry Antonis 6 – Victory change the way they play when he’s number 10 and it helps shake up what had been a tired game plan. He looked dangerous tonight and created a few openings but he was also a little slow to release when some chances were on.  

Leroy George 6 – wasn’t as dangerous tonight as we’re used to seeing him. He spent most of the game in his usual wing position but his ten minute spell as the attacking midfielder was interesting. It wasn’t successful but it was interesting.

Kosta Barbarouses 5 – a poor game by his standards. He was coming very central a lot and it didn’t work out for him. He didn’t get many chances and he’ll be disappointed and hungry for next week.

Besart Berisha 5 – not his night. Dino Djulbic seemed to be in the way every time he had a chance and he butchered a really good late break.

Subs

Christian Theoharous 6 – came on and looked dangerous again. He really deserves more playing time.

Stefan Nigro 5 – didn’t have long to influence the game but he did give Victory a little more width going forward.

Josh Hope 6 – he also didn’t have much time but he did a lot with it. He got the ball a lot and usually passed forwards successfully. Very nice to see.