The Sky Blues had smashed their last five encounters with the Glory, scoring eighteen to Perth’s two – and oozed confidence as they dominated the first half.

But as Sydney scuppered, Perth found form and it took a last minute calamity to give Sydney their just desserts, leaving a sour taste in the mouth of Glory fans everywhere.

So here’s how the A-League’s two star dishes faced off, including the rest of the chasing pack. Oh, and before we start, VAR gets a zero. 

SYDNEY FC

Andrew Redmayne - 7

Didn’t have much to do in the first 92 minutes, but made himself count at the end to deny Adam Taggart.

Michael Zullo - 8

Began fantastically, his ability to bust a gut to put in crosses led to Sydney’s first penalty and he and a forward-pushing Jordis Buijs reeked havoc down Perth’s right flank.

Jordis Buijs – 8

One of the most forward thinking defenders in world football. His set pieces may leave something to be desired, but a thumping effort on the 10th minute set the pace, forcing a great save from Liam Reddy, and he was superb from then on.

Alex Wilkinson - 7

Solid without being spectacular. Given Wilko’s age, the attacking defenders around him and Chris Harold’s pace, Perth should have done slightly better on the counter – they didn’t, and the former Socceroo had an easy night as a result.

Luke Wilkshere – 7.5

Hasn’t scored a league goal in a decade, and that drought looks like it’s going to last as long as the Sahara’s. Points for effort though – he’s desperately thirsty for a goal. 

Brandon O’Neill – 8.5

Five fouls in the first half, no card, no worries. The little niggler is key to Sydney’s ability to break up counters and disrupt play, and he showed a fine passing range to boot.

Alex Brosque – 7

It’s questionable whether his new role suits him. He lagged behind the rest of Sydney’s attacking lineup early, but grew in influence as he slowly worked his way both forward and into the game.

Dallied too long when through on goal and allowed Scott Neville to beat him, which is never a good sign.

Joshua Brillante – 7.5

Strong performance – he will score more goals if he keeps making those lung-busting late runs into the box.

He could have had a second goal in two games and provided Sydney a strong presence on the opposite side to Milos Ninkovic, leaving Perth stretched on more than one occasion.

Milos Ninkovic - 9

When isn’t he a 9 out of 10? When he’s a 10. He would have had two assists in the first 20 minutes if Bobo had his shooting boots on, but the classiest player in the A-League was all flicks and tricks until the final minute.

Bobo - 7

Too enthusiastic. Missed a sitter by his fine standards when he blazed over from a precision Ninkovic through ball, and a minute later blasted a penalty off the crossbar.

But even a stopped clock is right twice a day, and if you keep giving the Brazilian penalties, he’s bound to slot one away. To be fair, that goal was his fourth of the season, and he was heavily involved.

David Carney – 8

He may be the wrong side of 33, but if he keeps earning penalties Arnie wont care. It might be the fact that he’s bright red and looks physically exhausted within ten minutes, but referees clearly feel sorry for him and its working to Sydney’s favour.

Despite his age, Carney can still press and force turnovers, and he stacks up with the league’s best when it comes to slotting defence-splitting passes.

Adrian Mierzejewski – 8

Good players force their own involvements, great players make those involvements count. He was on the pitch for 20 minutes but he ended up solving the entire equation, so who does he knock down the pecking order next week?

Matt Simon - 8

This rating isn’t judging him on a 10 minute cameo – although he threw himself around enough - it’s judging him on 200 A-League appearances. A phenomenal milestone for one of the league’s hardest workers. 

PERTH GLORY

Liam Reddy - 8

Brilliant start to the game and a brilliant finish rounded off a very solid performance for the Perth stopper. If you think that would be good enough to inspire a Perth Glory defence, you’d be wrong.

Joseph Mills - 4

Fool him once, shame on the VAR. Fool him twice, shame on Millsy. The first penalty Mills conceded was a bit soft, and the second penalty Mills conceded really could have gone either way – he was facing the wrong direction, moving forward and the momentum led his arm to fling up behind his back.

To be fair, he did try very hard to redeem himself in the second half. But conceding two penalties is unforgivable in Sunday league. This is the modern game, and with penalties given for peanuts, he had a shocker.

Alex Grant - 5

Both he and Lowry had some shaky moments passing out from the back, and Grant didn’t look too solid without the ball either.

Shane Lowry - 6

Flicked a strong header for Perth’s only strong chance of the first half and dived in outstandingly to deny Bobo in the second, but there’s question marks over these former Championship centre-halves. Either them, or Kenny Lowe.

Scott Neville - 7

He let a few creep by him down Perth’s right side in the first half but saved Glory twice late in the match with some fantastic last-ditch defending.

Xavi Torres - 6

Still hasn’t settled in to life under Lowe. Had moments where he looked solid on the ball, but to conceded another penalty late on shows he lacks the leadership that Perth desperately require in the middle of the park.

Andreu - 4

Another very quiet performance. Impossible to find a picture of him on the ball. He didn’t last long either – withdrawn after 56 minutes.

Chris Harold – 6

He hasn’t had a great start to the season but he started this game off with serious drive.

He disappeared for a while after that, but struck a venomous effort narrowly over the crossbar on the 62nd minute to try to ignite Perth’s comeback, and it almost worked.

Diego Castro – 6.5

Letting Castro swing in two free kicks and a corner in the opening fifteen minutes was begging for a Sky Blues’ disaster, and Redmayne did well to keep him out.

After that, he faded in and out, and even when he was involved, he was sloppy. Considering the talent they have, it’s criminal that Perth rely on him so heavily to orchestrate attacks, so he only deserves half the blame.

Adam Taggart – 6

He still had a chance for glory at the death, but left more to be desired than most on that pitch.

Lowe doesn’t look like he quite knows how to get the best out of Taggart, so if you’re expecting the Aussie to suddenly shine and score his way back into Socceroos contention, you may be left disappointed this season.

Andy Keogh - 6

It’s hard for the captain to lead by example when he’s chasing shadows, and Perth’s ineffective press left Keogh a thankless task.

Mitch Nichols - 6

The long awaited return of the wispy haired bad-boy, but facing off against Brillante and O’Neill was a baptism of fire, and he never got going.

Jake Brimmer – 6.5

He’s got a lot of confidence and his dalliances on the ball allowed Perth to steady the ship for a while in the second half. If anything, he outshone Torres, but he’s not first team quality defensively.

Joe Knowles - 6

Another solid introduction for Perth, but he couldn’t do quite enough in his short spell to warrant a proper rating.