Perth Glory have been consigned to their second consecutive A-League Men’s wooden spoon after premiers Auckland FC capped their title-winning exploits with a 1-0 win at Go Media Stadium.
Marlee Francois’ second-half ‘Olimpico’ goal directly from a corner sunk Glory, leaving Perth — who failed to land a shot on target against Auckland — four points below Brisbane Roar entering their final game of the season.
While the inclement weather failed to dampen the party-like atmosphere of approximately 25,000 Auckland fans, the atmosphere would have done nothing to lift moods in the Perth camp.
As Auckland enjoyed their coronation, having secured the league title pre-game following Melbourne City’s draw on Saturday night, it was in stark contrast to the funeral procession of Glory’s fate being sealed.
Both teams had entered the season heralding ‘new eras’ of sorts, but their seasons produced polarising results; Auckland’s inaugural season ended with silverware, Perth’s with yet another reminder of how far the club has fallen.
With one final game to go against Wellington, Perth are eight points adrift of last year’s tally of 22 points and have scored 26 goals less than last campaign.
Even a draw against Auckland would not have prevented Perth from finishing bottom given Brisbane’s vastly-superior goal difference.
“A-League champions, we know what we are,” Auckland fans sung from the terraces; Perth, in their lilac away kit, simply sang the blues.
It was not just the rain falling the Glory defence had to deal with from above, as Auckland full backs Francis DeVries and Hiroki Sakai bombarded them with crosses all game long.
After Max Mata whisteled an early chance wide following Sakai’s cross, Logan Rogerson was unable to convert two chances in the opening 11 minutes as the wings proved the hosts’ best avenue to goal.
Up the other end, Perth’s best — and only — chance in the first half failed to result in a shot when Adam Taggart was inches away from getting significant purchase on Luke Amos’ driving run and pass.
Glory defender Tomi Mrcela stood tall under the aerial assault and prevented a certain goal in the 26th minute when he blocked Mata’s shot from Rogerson’s cut-back, before Amos prevented Guillermo May from converting the rebound.
Mata must have wondered what he had to do to find the net when he first saw Oli Sail somehow push his goal-bound attempt over the bar, before another header spun agonisingly wide.
Auckland enjoyed 70 per cent of possession in the first half and it felt like a matter of ‘when’, not ‘if’ the dam burst.
Francois was foiled by Sail and then Kaelen Majekodunmi headed clear with Mata lurking – but the former would not be denied.
The winger’s in-swinging corner from the left evaded the scrum which had formed around Sail and deflected into the net via the back post.
Glory to their credit did push late as substitute Khoa Ngo provided some spark while Taggart momentarily managed to free himself from the shackles of Dan Hall, but could only hit the side-netting.
But the hosts could have added to their tally, thwarted by a combination of Sail and near-misses — not that it had any material impact on their ladder position as the table-toppers enjoyed their deserved spoils post-game, while Perth were left to reflect on their 17th loss of the season.
