The Perth Glory have travelled away and won the second week in a row, defeating a Melbourne Heart side that lacked direction and confidence.
The winner came in the 68th minute after a howler from the Heart's Goalkeeper Clint Bolton who fumbled a Mile Sterjovski cracker to Steven McGarry's feet, who finished it off for the 2 -1 victory.
The Glory had the majority of the chances and should have finished at least two or three of them and won this match very early on. But they stumbled there way to victory.
The Heart, without marquee man Fred, looked like they didn't want any points from the match, which is absorb with a heavy schedule in the coming week, facing top of the table Central Coast Mariners on Wednesday, followed by a Brisbane Roar side on Saturday with Broich and Henrique back. For a young side, they seemed to have heavy feet, at some stages during the first half, many of the forwards and midfielders were standing and waiting for the ball to arrive, rather than look for space to open up the Perth defence.
A turnover from led to the first goal for the Perth Glory. A good piece of work by Jacob Burns who passed in the ball infield to Liam Miller. Kristian Sarkies had a chance to compete for the ball but Miller clearly outclassed him. Miller than progressed forward and put the ball into space for Shane Smeltz to create and beat both Curtis Good and Aziz Behich. The finishing was typical Smeltz, clinical.
Glory had a chance in the 33rd minute to make it 2 -0. A lovely ball from Smeltz pushed Mile Sterjovski wide on the left. Sterjovski than put a lovely cross right at a moving Smeltz's foot. He went to finish it, but Bolton's chest acted as a wall. The Heart defence somehow cleared the ball.
The end of the first half, finished with Kristian Sarkies taking a free kick. The kick went just over the cross bar with Danny Vukovic's fingertips being grazed on the way through. The Heart players appealed for a corner, but both referee and assistant referee would not have a bar of it, and half time was blown.
The equaliser for the Heart came in the 66th minute. The Perth raised boy, Eli Babalj, showcased this skills in the box, beating Todd Howarth on the edge and than confronting Jacob Burns. Burns than brought him down and referee Chris Beath had no choice but to point at the spot. Matt Thompson than stepped up for the spot kick. He went low and right, Vukovic made a great parry but it landed at the feet of Sarkies. Sarkies finished it and tied the game up 1 - 1.
The Heart had a had chance to square the ledger again late in the match through Maycon with his first touch. A lovely free kick by Dugandzic to Maycon on the far post with the header got Vukovic moving very quickly for the save.
The win now puts the Perth Glory in the Top Six while the Melbourne Heart are still in third place on the ladder but with the schedule ahead, face an almighty task to hold on to their position.