Melbourne Victory came from a goal down to romp past former bogey team Perth Glory 4-1 in a pulsating clash at AAMI Park on Saturday night.
Glory opened the scoring through Diego Castro (5') before Victory piled on four courtesy of Besart Berisha (23'), Fahid Ben Khalfallah (42'), Marco Rojas (48') and James Troisi (73').
The home side hadn’t beaten Perth in their last eight outings and got off to an inauspicious start when Castro opened the scoring against the run of play.
However Victory rallied on the back of a vintage Berisha performance, with their talisman netting his 99th A-League goal before teeing up Ben Khalfallah in sensational fashion before the break.
Both sides continued to play an expansive brand of football after the interval but just when it looked like Glory would draw level they were hit with a sucker punch via the boot of Marco Rojas.
James Troisi celebrated his recall to the Socceroos fold with a sublime individual effort to bank Victory’s fourth, while Lawrence Thomas made a couple of spectacular late saves to maintain the final three goal margin.
Glory coach Kenny Lowe will feel hard done, however, after two first-half penalty shouts were waved away. Andy Keogh and Castro getting nothing from the referee after being fouled in the box.
The result means Kevin Muscat's side have now won nine of their last 11 home matches, while Glory have work to do over the remaining four rounds in their quest to host an Elimination Final.
GOALS
0-1 Perth Glory: Diego Castro, 5’
A goal bound Adam Taggart header was well saved by Thomas following a cross from Andy Keogh but Castro was on hand to lash home the parry from an acute angle.
1-1 Melbourne Victory: Besart Berisha, 23’
Marco Rojas picked out the front post run of his strike partner with a curling free-kick, with Berisha heading strongly between Liam Reddy and the post to draw his side level.
2-1 Melbourne Victory: Fahid Ben Khalfallah, 42’
Berisha dug into his bag of tricks, juggling the ball multiple times on the byline before whipping in a cross with his back to goal that the Tunisian nodded home after getting the better of Josh Risdon.
3-1 Melbourne Victory: Marco Rojas, 48’
The home side hit Glory in transition with Ben Khalfallah feeding the run of Rojas, who darted towards goal before cutting inside Marc Warren and bending the ball inside the far post.
4-1 Melbourne Victory: James Troisi, 73’
The in-form midfielder did it all himself, winning the ball and ghosting past a couple of defenders before hammering the ball past Reddy who was left rooted to the spot.
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