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Perth Stun League Leaders Out West
by Jeremy Ruane
Auckland FC's reign at the top of the Isuzu Ute A-League standings came to an end at HBF Park on January 11 as they were stunned 1-0 by twelfth-placed Perth Glory, the team with the worst defensive record in the competition thus far.
It wasn't evident in this match, however, as they produced a rock-solid defensive effort to restrict Auckland to a handful of chances, from some of which they should have scored. The home team weren't without opportunities themselves throughout this physical encounter, the tone of which was set by Jarrod Carluccio just 34 seconds into the contest, his late tackle on Hiroki Sakai earning the Perth fullback a yellow card from referee Nathan Shakespear.
Jaylan Pearman was the first player from either side to fire a shot in anger when he fired a twenty-yarder narrowly past the post in the sixth minute, two minutes after which Perth were denied the opening goal by a harsh offside call, Carluccio's fine strike being ruled out because Trent Ostler had strayed offside - but at what point was he in the active area of play? This goal should have stood.
The let-off stirred Auckland into action, with Oli Sail parrying Guillermo May's twenty-five yarder to safety on the quarter hour, before a super challenge by Andriano Lebib thwarted Liam Gillion's progress, after Felipe Gallegos had been taken out by a wild Josh Risdon tackle which went unpunished.
Sakai's raking diagonal ball in the 24th minute sent Gillion galloping through the inside left channel, but the covering figure of Lebib forced the winger to send his shot into the side-netting.
Five minutes later, Perth opened the scoring. Carluccio burst between two defenders after latching onto a loose ball, which he steered into the stride of Pearman. He walloped the ball into the top far corner of the net from the edge of the penalty area to give the home team a deserved lead.
Twelve minutes from time, Lebib headed over from close range following a partially cleared Taras Gomulka corner, but perhaps on this occasion justice was served, as Lebib had taken out Gallegos at the near post - Perth's indulgence in the "dark arts" generally went under the radar of referee Shakespear throughout this contest.
Right on half-time, Alex Paulsen produced a double save to keep Auckland in the contest, parrying Carluccio's angled cross, then recovering quickly to prevent Ostler from firing home the rebound. Seconds later, a Zach Lisolajski piledriver knocked Sakai out cold - an early end to Auckland's captain's evening was the outcome.
The visitors were on the front foot early in the second spell, Francis de Vries' cross picking out Logan Rogerson, who shot across the face of goal when he should really have at least tested Sail.
Back came Perth, Lisolajski's teasing cross to the far post prevented from reaching its intended target, Adam Taggart, by the timely intervention of Tommy Smith, who was sporting the captain's armband after Sakai's departure.
Auckland was struggling to break down Perth's resolute rearguard, but the introduction of Max Mata just before the hour mark gave their attack a welcome boost. Within minutes, he drew a fine flying save from Sail as the 'keeper reacted well to keep out the newcomer's headed effort, while
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Perth's goalkeeper thwarted May soon after, the Uruguayan having been picked out by Rogerson's low cross.
In the 63rd minute, Jake Brimmer's angled ball found Mata stealing in on goal, but his close-range header was blocked by Sail. Jesse Randall was following in, but Risdon was on hand to block his shot at close quarters.
Perth responded via Lebib, whose volley was kept out by Paulsen. Auckland's 'keeper looked on seconds later as Brimmer gifted the ball to Taggart, who surged through before playing in Pearman. He squandered a great chance to double his tally for the match by dragging his shot across the face of goal.
In the 68th minute, Auckland should have equalised. Callan Elliot released Rogerson down the right, from where he picked out Mata with a low cross. Seven yards out, and with the goal at his mercy, he sent his shot sailing over Sail's crossbar - a bad miss which ultimately cost Auckland at least a share of the spoils.
Buoyed by the let-off, Perth came on strong in the final fifteen minutes, with Gomulka and Taggart both seeing shots blocked before Auckland introduced debutant Adama Coulibaly to the fray.
Within two minutes, he was rightly booked for clattering into fellow substitute Khoa Ngo, but the Perth man should also have been yellow-carded by referee Shakespear for entering the field of play without permission.
For Ngo, who was off the field, dragged himself back onto it in order to receive treatment and give his team-mates a brief respite - more "dark arts", again going unpunished thanks to weak officiating.
Perth came again, Paulsen turning a Taggart effort round the post before Nick Pennington sent the ball soaring over the bar after Gomulka and Taggart had combined to engineer the opening in the 87th minute.
Back came Auckland, May volleying over from twelve yards before seeing his twenty yard drive brilliantly tipped over the bar by Sail, who was determined not to concede a goal against the team from the city of his birth.
This resulted in an Auckland corner, which was cleared and prompted Joel Anasmo to race downfield, Coulibaly in hot pursuit. Just outside Auckland's penalty area, the pursuant clipped the heels of the pursued, giving referee Shakespear no option but to send off the debutant, a mere eleven minutes after Coulibaly had entered the fray.
It was the last straw for Auckland, and after Paulsen punched clear Brandon O'Neill's bid to double Perth's lead from the resulting free-kick, the final whistle sounded to the understandable delight of the locals, given this was Perth's first home win since February 2023.
Perth: Sail; Risdon, Lebib, Mrcela (booked, 44), Lisolajski (booked, 71 (Hamzaoui, 75)); Ostler (Anasmo, 86), Pennington (Blair, 90), Gomulka, Carluccio (booked, 1 (Ngo, 75 (booked, 90)); Pearman (O'Neill, 75), Taggart
Auckland: Paulsen; Sakai (Elliot, 45), Smith, Pijnaker, de Vries (Coulibaly, 82 (booked, 84, sent off, 90)); Verstraete, Brimmer, Gallegos (Randall, 46); Moreno (Rogerson, 46), May, Gillion (Mata, 58)
Referee: Nathan Shakespear
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