Despite both sides engaging in a back and forth battle, neither were able to truly create chances that one could have claimed to have been gilt-edged throughout the contest, two well-credentialed defences doing their jobs well.

Socceroos striker Jamie Maclaren was unable to convert a number of chances that, on another day, he may have converted while Glory had a penalty decision waved away by VAR intervention in the second half.

Ultimately, the individual most happy with Saturday evening’s result likely wasn’t even in the stadium.

Wherever he was watching from, Steve Corica would have had a big grin on his face knowing that the splitting of the spoils at AAMI Park ensures that Sydney FC will enter round 17 with a ten-point gap between themselves and their nearest rivals.

Looking to close that gap, City will next week travel to face Adelaide United before returning to Melbourne the following week for the third and final Melbourne Derby of the season.

Perth will head back across the Nullarbor and commence a three-game homestand – facing Melbourne Victory and Wellington Phoenix in the next two A-League rounds and then opening their 2020 Asian Champions League campaign against Shanghai Shenhua.

Florin Berenguer tested Liam Reddy in just the second minute of Saturday evening’s contest with a speculative, but ultimately tame effort from range in the 2nd minute, before the veteran keeper was called into action to save a meekly taken Maclaren effort in the fourth minute after Soobeom Kim knocked down a Craig Noone shot.  

A pinpoint ball forward from Curtis Good augured City’s next attack in the 13th minute. Berenguer knocking down the pass to Jamie Maclaren and the Socceroos striker then laying it off for Adrian Luna to let loose with an effort that forced Reddy to acrobatically leap to tip it over the bar.

Nonetheless, while City were well and truly in control of the game early doors, they were unable to do anything with it and, concerningly for them, Perth began to show signs of life.

A half chanced arrived in the 33rd minute when a corner in from Neil Kilkenny put wide off the head of Bruno Fornaroli after the Uruguayan won the ball in a crowd, before Castrol drilled an effort straight at Dean Bouzanis after being picked out by a Joel Chianese backheel inside the box in the 40th.

Brief, bizarre scenes arose as the game ticked into injury time when Reddy sat on the ball for a seeming age – with no City player willing to press him – but it ended up being a brief, but bizarre, distraction before the teams headed to the rooms locked at 0-0.

Though City had a brief five-minute period domination to begin the second stanza, the game quickly returned to an arm wrestle.

Glory thought they had a penalty won in the 55th minute when a calamitous series of coming togethers in the penalty area following a corner eventually saw Josh Brilliante bring down Fornaroli at the back post.

Referee Daniel Elder was quick to point to the spot and award a penalty, only for the VAR to intervene and wave the decision off after Fornaroli was determined to be offside in the build-up.

City attempted to answer back with a sweetly built move in the 65th minute that ended up with a Luna cross into Maclaren, but the 26-year-old could only send his resulting headed effort wide. A long-range effort from Brilliante sailed over the bar a minute later.

The game beginning to pen up, Fornaroli turned and drove a shot in on goal in the 67th minute to force a save from Bouzanis and the resulting corner in from Kilkenny was almost inadvertently turned in by Good as he challenged intended target Mrcela.

Meredith brought down Noone to provide City with a free kick in a dangerous area in the 70th minute, an effort that Luna proved just unable to curl into the top corner of the net.

With time winding down, City was beginning to slightly shade the contest once again, with a free-kick floated in from the wing by Berenguer headed over the bar by Delbridge in the 82nd and a long-range effort driven in from range by Scott Jamieson in the 85th rising over the bar.