Perth Glory and Sydney FC played out a 1-1 draw at the MES today in a game of 2 halves.
The first half was owned by Sydney as they controlled play from the start, however, the 2nd half saw a much improved performance from the home side.
In the end the result was just about right although Sydney will feel aggrieved that a perfectly good goal was ruled out by an incorrect Assistant referee decision.
In just the 7th minute Ian Fyfe played a ball into the Glory area where Zdrilic turned sharply and shot but the ball went narrowly wide.
Just 3 minutes later it was another ball from the Sydney right that this time Ceccoli hammered first time, but Vrteski made a great save.
After 12 minutes it was Glory's turn with Bertos and Young combining with a one - two, however Bertos shot wide.
Glory had another effort in the 25th minute when Lazaridis fired in from 30 meters but Bolton saved at the 2nd attempt.
Sydney came close to taking the lead after 33 minutes when a corner by Talay was met brilliantly by Petrovski, however with Vrteski and his defense well beaten the ball
The relief was very short lived though as just 3 minutes later Petrovski made no mistake when he connected with a Corica cross to head Sydney into the lead. At half time things looked glum for Glory, but like last week against the Mariners, they turned it around in the 2nd half.
In the 53rd minute referee Przydacz somehow failed to see Harnwell being dragged to the ground in the penalty area from a corner.
Glory were now starting to exert pressure and Coyne had a great chance from a Lazaridis cross after 59 minutes but headed over the bar.
In the 70th minute it was Sekulovski having a goal bound shot blocked for a corner. The resultant corner was played short between Lazaridis and Bertos before the latter centered the ball, as Bolton came out he collided with his own player and Coyne was able to head into the empty goal for the equalizer.
After that things got heated with a number of bookings but in the 80th minute Milligan fired in a shot that Vrteski did well to deflect, however Corica was ion the end of the deflection and he slotted the ball home. It looked a clear cut goal, but to the delight of the home fans Assistant Referee Nugus belatedly raised his flag for off side. [replays showed that Corica was very clearly onside and the goal was quite legitimate - TE]
The final chance of the game came from another Bertos cross that was cleverly chested down by Glory substitute Saric into the path of Young, whose shot was just into the side netting.
So Glory continue their unbeaten home form in this seasons A-League and on the balance of play probably just about deserved to share the spoils.
Sydney will be unhappy leaving Perth with just a point especially after the disallowed goal. The result see Sydney move to 3rd on the table and Perth to 4th, both on 4 points.