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Before the encounter “The Cove”, the passionate supporter group of the Sky Blues, unfurled another banner this time directed at the hierarchy of Sydney FC. It stated that they wanted action rather than words.
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In the first half hour or so they totally dominated proceedings before relapsing and almost allowing the Glory to scramble an unlikely – and arguably undeserved – equaliser before the break.
The best of the earlier chances fell to Milos Dimitrijevic who fired agonisingly close after receiving a lovely ball from Alessandro Del Piero.
The Sky Blues took the lead in the 17th minute when Del Piero, turning back the clock with some delightful twinkle-toes dribbling, gave a beautiful through ball to Ranko Despotovic who superbly slotted it into the bottom corner of the net past a stranded Danny Vukovic.
Dimitrijevic was back at it again in the 25th minute with another attempt that sailed just over the crossbar.
However, after total domination by the home side it was shortly afterwards that Perth Glory almost scrambled a goal with a few good chances.
A corner kick was punched away by Vedran Janjetovic onto the posts only for a foul to be called by referee Chris Beath from the ensuing rebound.
An indirect free kick was awarded to the Glory on the edge of the six yard box but, with the Sky Blues parking the entire team on the goal line, the Nebojsa Marinkovic free kick was well and truly blocked.
Riley Woodcock from close range late in the first half should really have done a lot better than shoot over after receiving a lovely ball from the left. This great chance for the visitors was then followed by another double-barreled one.
A long free kick from Marinkovic reached William Gallas in the box and the former French star flicked on the ball and forced Janjetovic to knock it away for a corner.
From the subsequent corner kick, the ball appeared to beat all and sundry until Del Piero headed off the line. The Italian was showing great versatility – not only can he score, he certainly can save as well.
Sydney FC were not to be outdone and had two more chances right at the death of the first stanza of play. Corey Gameiro unleashed a rocket that Vukovic did well to parry away and Del Piero shot just over the intended target.
After such an exhilarating first 45 minutes, it was little wonder that the fans applauded the teams off the field.
Early in the second half Gameiro’s powerful shot, which was definitely on its way to goal, ended up being blocked inadvertently by his teammate Despotovic.
Perth Glory replied with two long range shots that were very dangerous in their own right. The first was by Steven McGarry but it finished over the crossbar; the second by substitute Chris Harold, with his first touch of the game, forced Janjetovic into a brilliant diving save.
The Sky Blues took the lead in the 64th minute through a marvellous goal from Terry Antonis who was returning to the team.
He made his way infield from the left before unleashing a stupendous curled effort that ended up in the bottom corner of the net.
Perth Glory replied soon afterwards when a long Marinkovic free-kick reached Rostyn Griffiths in the box who headed home, rebounding the ball in off the inside of the crossbar.
It must have given Frank Farina heart palpitations on the bench because once again Sydney FC’s most glaring fault was evident: consistency.
However, Sydney FC’s resilience this week was made of sterner stuff than witnessed at the same ground seven days earlier against Adelaide United and they did manage to hold off the Glory. In fact Despotovic turning in the box should have scored from close range.
Late in the game debutant Aaron Calver received his second yellow card but by then the Sky Blues needed only to resist a couple of more minutes with the numerical disadvantage.
Sydney will look to make it two on the trot when they travel to Newcastle to face the Jets while the Glory head back west to take on Western Sydney Wanderers.
Sydney FC: Janjetovic, Petkovic, Jurman, Ognenovski, Abbas, Dimitrijevic (36’ Gligor), Antonis, Calver, Gameiro (73’ Urosevski), Del Piero, Despotovic (87’ Mallia)
Perth Glory: Vukovic, Gallas, Griffiths (68’ Burns), Marinkovic, McGarry, Thwaite, Sciola, Risdon (92’ Maclaren), Woodcock, Sernas (60’ Harold), Smeltz