…and we tumble down again

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This is a match review of the Perth game last week, written on Monday but not published due to the site being down.

It never ceases to amaze how the Melbourne Victory can follow up excellent performances against top-ranked teams with mediocre efforts against teams propping up the bottom of the table.

We may have given Perth a hiding when we played them at home, but Melbourne can’t seem to get the edge over the West Australians in Perth. This is the second time this season that Melbourne has been solidly beaten by the Glory.

After last night’s match I was left wondering how Perth managed to squander its season so effortlessly when it is capable of turning in performances like that. David Mitchell has so much talent at his disposal, even with Nikita Ruykavitsya’s departure. Eugene Dadi again put two in against Melbourne, while … Sikora and Adriano Pelegrino were impressive in midfiield.

The clue to Perth’s failure this season may be gleaned from the first 20 minutes of last night’s game. Archie Thompson and Danny Allsopp caught the Perth defence napping after just three minutes, with Allsopp slotting home the opener. The onslaught from Melbourne continued, with Carlos Hernandez missing a golden opportunity and Allsopp nearly doubling his score count.

But Melbourne didn’t take its chances, and Perth seized upon this little glimmer of hope. After a short drinks break around the 22 minute mark, Perth clearly began to dominate the game. Goals from Dadi and Ruykavitsya had the Glory a goal up at half time.

In the second half, I felt that Melbourne had the edge over Perth, especially after Ney Fabiano took advantage of a stray ball in front of goal to bring the score to 2-2. Dadi’s second goal came at a perfect time for the Glory, and a horrible time for Melbourne. We’d been on the ascendancy until then, but that goal proved to be a killer blow.

The young referee, whose name I didn’t catch, had an excellent game until the final ten minutes, when he managed to make two embarrassing errors. First, he unwittingly gave a second yellow to Matthew Kemp for what was a very soft foul – I’m convinced he wouldn’t have given that yellow if he’d remembered that Kemp was already on a yellow. Second, he missed a brilliantly obvious Kevin Muscat foul minutes later: Muscat should have received a red card for trying to pull Dadi down from behind. I don’t blame David Mitchell for being upset about the decision. Muscat deserved a red; Kemp didn’t.

The loss to Perth is a serious blow to our chances of winning the Minor Premiership, as Adelaide United sit a point ahead of us with a game in hand. It’s not impossible, but we need Adelaide to lose games while we win. The result, in other words, is out of our hands.