Caceres strike downs Glory

Former Perth Glory player Adrian Caceres came off the bench to haunt his former club and fire the Melbourne Victory to a 2-1 win at Members Equity Stadium this afternoon in Round 5 of the Hyundai A-League.

The Glory made two changes to its starting line-up, with New Zealand international Adrian Webster replacing David Micevski and Stan Lazaridis replaced Jeremy Christie who dropped to the bench Also on the bench was Bobby Despotovski who made a return from injury. The Victory also made one change from last weeks starting line-up with Grant Brebner replacing Steve Pantelidis who dropped to the bench.

It was a lively start from both sides, Victory’s Archie Thompson finding room down the left, his cross hacked clear by Jamie Harnwell in front of the waiting Daniel Allsopp. The Glory pressed and in the seventh minute Leo Bertos’ corner was flicked on by David Tarka, which flew inches past the far post.

Simon Colosimo was lively early and his cross found Bertos wide right, but his first touch let him down and the chance was lost. Colosimo was the provider again in the 15th minute he fed Adrian Webster, who played in Stan Lazaridis down the left. His shot was saved low by Michael Theoklitos.

Then Colosimo fired inches past the post, but the game settled after the lively start, with the Glory keeping their shape and frustrating the league leaders. The visitors made an early change with Caceres replacing the injured Alessandro on 35 minutes, as the warm conditions started to take it’s toll as the game slowed down as half time approached.

But Thompson was a constant threat, his run down the right sent him clear of three Glory defenders before pulling the ball back into the area were Ante Kovacevic cleared the danger.

The visitors began the second half well, and were in front in the 55th minute, the Glory defence didn’t clear their lines, and Kevin Muscat fed Caceres who fired home first time from the edge of the box. The Glory almost hit back immediately Colosimo sent Bertos clear down the right but his shot was deflected into the side netting.

The Glory were pushing forward but Victory were hitting well on the counter-attack, and after Colosimo lost possession on the edge of Victory’s box they went down to the other end, again Thompson’s pace was used as he skipped clear down the right. His cross from the wing was unnecessarily handled in the box by Kovacevic and referee Peter Green pointed to the spot.

Former Socceroo Kevin Muscat made no mistake from the spot to make it 2-0 to the visitors after 71 minutes. It was almost 3-0 Allsopp finding space down the right, his shot just wide of the target.

The Glory lacked the final ball to threaten the Victory backline; even the introduction of Despotovski didn’t inspire the side, although the 35-year-old showed glimpses of his best. Both sides cleared the benches as the heat took its toll, but the Glory lacked the finishing touch.

The Glory scored late on, when David Tarka rose high to head home Bertos’ corner past Theoklitos. But it was too little too late and Melbourne stays on top of the league with a 2-1 victory.

The Glory travel next week to take on Newcastle Jets on Friday evening at Energy Australia Stadium, while Melbourne Victory returns to the Telstra Dome next week, for the top of the table clash with the Queensland Roar.

Team Line-Ups

Perth Glory:
Aleks Vrteski (gk), David Tarka, Simon Colosimo, Jamie Harnwell (Jeremy Christie 77), Stan Lazaridis, Leo Bertos, Ante Kovacevic, Jamie Coyne, Adrian Webster, Stuart Young (Mimi Saric 67), Naum Sekulovski (Bobby Despotovski 60). Subs not used: Jason Petkovic (gk). Yellow Cards: nil.

Melbourne Victory:
Michael Theoklitos (gk), Kevin Muscat, Daniel Piorkowski, Daniel Allsopp, Archie Thompson (Vince Lia 83), Rod Vargas, Kristian Sarkies (Steve Pantelidis 62), Adrian Leijer, Simon Storey, Grant Brebner, Alessandro (Adrian Caceres 35). Subs not Used: Eugene Galekovic (gk). Yellow Cards: nil.

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