It was the same old story for Perth Glory, as two goals in quick succession saw them crumple and fall to a 3-0 loss to Macarthur at HBF Park — their seventh A-League Men’s loss in 10 games this season.
Jed Drew scored twice in six first-half minutes as a somewhat promising Glory start was erased in the blink of an eye, before Ariath Piol added a third in the second half.
And there was worse news than just the loss for the Glory, with fan favourite forward David Williams stretchered off with a suspected knee ligament injury.
Williams, the hero of Glory’s drought-breaking, first win of the season, earned a second consecutive start – but his night was ended cruelly just 13 minutes in.
The striker reached for a cross and his knee bent awkwardly, the veteran falling in a heap and lying prone and unmoved.
The Shed fell silent as the enormity of the injury became clear, the crowd rising to applaud him as he was stretchered off.
His exit was a blow for Perth, who had looked improved with Williams playing up top alongside returning captain Adam Taggart.
Given how dire Perth have been this season — and indeed, in their opening round 6-1 mauling by Macarthur — neither the defeat nor the performance felt as awful as previous encounters given the circumstances.
But coach David Zdrilic would have been shaking his head as Perth’s propensity to concede goals in quick succession and commit avoidable defensive lapses reared its ugly head again.
The loss did nothing to impact Perth’s position on the ladder, but a Brisbane Roar win over Western United on Sunday would see the Glory move back to the bottom of the team and further adrift of the rest of the league.
Taggart had Perth’s best chance of the opening half when he forced Filip Kurto into a good save following a flowing team move and while the Glory had not exactly run the table on their opponents, they were looking more cohesive than Macarthur early.
A Drew curled strike which flew over and a deflected Walter Scott cross aside, Macathur had not properly tested Cameroon Cook in goal – which made their 28th-minute opener feel like a sucker punch.
The pacy Drew had been an outlet for the Bulls all day, and he galloped onto a long ball which narrowly evaded Riley Warland’s outstretched boot and with the linesman’s flag staying down, he applied a tidy finish.
Soon after, a misplaced Adam Bugarija pass allowed the visitors to break and despite Perth’s defence recovering, their inability to clear a loose ball meant it rolled to Drew in the box, who tucked it away into the corner of the net.
Taggart thought he had pegged one back for Perth in first half injury time when he turned home Trent Ostler’s low cross, only to be correctly ruled marginally offside.
They failed to recapture their early energy after the break, and as time ticked away, it looked increasingly like the Glory were going to be opened up by Macarthur.
Some scrambling Warland defence prevented Valerie Germain from side-footing home, but Perth failed to land a counter-punch of their own, Taggart increasingly cut adrift and forced to chase forlornly after hopeful long balls.
Substitute Piol put the icing on the cake in the 73rd minute, as another Glory turnover in their own half ended with the attack firing the ball underneath Cook.
https://thewest.com.au/sport/perth-glory/a-league-men-perth-glory-fall-to-yet-another-defeat-as-macarthur-fc-ease-to-3-0-win-c-17213431
