A stoppage time equaliser from Adam Taggart has kept Perth’s slim finals hopes open, while Melbourne City will be ruing one that got away late in a 1-1 draw HBF Park.
Daniel Arzani scored first for City before Taggart became the Glory’s all-time leading goal scorer, with his 60th Perth goal taking him clear of Andy Keogh.
After Perth looked lively early, it was Melbourne City that opened the scoring; Arzani in the right place at the right time to pounce on a loose ball in the area and place in the bottom corner.
Perth went into their shells on conceding the goal, allowing City the opportunity to take ownership of the contest – though they couldn’t add to their tally before half time.
The Glory came out of the sheds with more vigour, though finding route to goal was still a challenge.
Perth fashioned an opportunity for themselves when Taggart cut through City’s defence from the left to get a shot away, though Patrick Beach was equal to it.
Taggart was denied again with 10 minutes to go; the Perth striker nicked the ball off of Germán Ferreyra to take himself one-on-one with Beach, but the City keeper stayed strong to block the shot and jump on the rebound.
Perth had another chance minutes later when Anthony Didulica’s low cross found Luca Tevere in close, but again Beach positioned himself well to keep the Glory out.
Perth keeper Matt Sutton kept the score at 1-0 with a crucial double save, first parrying Lawrence Wong’s long range effort and then recovering to block Emin Duraković’s follow-up effort.
Finally Taggart found a way to bring Perth level, getting on the end of a one-two pass with Jaiden Kucharski to break his six-match goalless run and become their outright leading goal scorer.
Perth Glory are still five points behind sixth-placed Macarthur with four matches to go, meaning their outside chance of playing finals is still alive.
City meanwhile will stay in ninth spot, two points behind Macarthur but with a game in hand.
After the international break, City will host the Western Sydney Wanderers and Perth travel over to the Central Coast to take on the Mariners.
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS
WHAT THEY SAID
Adam Taggart
Adam Griffiths
