Glory face Victory in FFA cup
Perth Glory advanced to a quarterfinal meeting with Melbourne Victory in the inaugural FFA Cup after easing to a 4-1 win over Victorian minnows St Albans in the round of 16 tonight.
Nebojsa Marinkovic gave Glory a first-half lead with a blistering free kick before the visitors edged clear of their unfancied opponents after the break at Knights Stadium.
Jamie Maclaren added a second soon after being brought on as a second-half substitute, but St Albans captain-coach Ryan McGuffie pulled one back from the penalty spot.
Republic of Ireland striker Andy Keogh restored Glory’s two-goal buffer when he tapped home from close range and Marinkovic rounded out the scoring with a classy chip in the dying stages.
Glory will host Melbourne Victory in the quarterfinals next month, with a spot in the last four on the line.
Assistant coach Andy Ord said Glory’s coaching staff were pleased with the performance against St Albans, who presented a potentially tricky opponent.
“It was a professional performance and I still think we did it a little bit within ourselves because we probably had another gear if we needed it,” Ord said.
“We created quite a few clear-cut chances, controlled the game and I think we were quite comfortable, but we’re not reading too much into it.”
Glory were warned against complacency by coach Kenny Lowe before taking on St Albans and gave their opponents respect during a cagey opening half hour.
Serbian attacker Marinkovic opened the scoring seven minutes before half-time, curling his free kick around the wall from 20m.
Young striker Maclaren was introduced after the break and scored with his first touch, calmly looping the ball over the advancing goalkeeper in the 62nd minute.
Six minutes later, St Albans were awarded a penalty when Glory captain Michael Thwaite was judged to have handled the ball in the box.
McGuffie converted to give the Saints a ray of hope.
But Glory, who open their A-League season away to Wellington Phoenix on October 12, made sure of the result when Keogh and Marinkovic scored in the final 20 minutes.
Elsewhere, Sydney FC registered a 3-1 win over local rivals Sydney United 58 in a heated affair at Edensor Park.
Chris Naumoff scored two cracking goals for the Sky Blues either side of Stejpan Paric’s equaliser for United.
Adelaide United beat fellow A-League side Brisbane Roar 2-0 with goals in each half from Bruce Djite and Cirio, while Queensland champions Palm Beach Sharks needed a late Jack Boxall strike to beat fourth-tier South Springvale 1-0 on the Gold Coast.
FFA CUP QUARTER-FINAL DRAW (HOME TEAM FIRST) Sydney FC v Adelaide Utd Perth Glory v Melbourne Victory Palm Beach Sharks v Central Coast Mariners Bentleigh Greens v Adelaide City - Dates and venues TBC
