The walking wounded
Kenny Lowe joked in last week’s press conference he would bring his boots to the game, such was Perth’ injury list. At the time, it contained commanding centre-back Dino Djulbic, Hungarian import Gyorgy Sandor, holding-midfielder Ruben Zadkovic and Dutch striker Guyon Fernandez. In the lead up to this game, recent Socceroo debutant Josh Risdon and young centre-back Alex Grant (who played well last week) were added to the absentee list. It is not the first time a club has had to deal with an injury crisis, but this early in the season, should questions be raised around the club? Perth were stretched thin this week, and the replacements drafted in were well and truly beaten by a far better Melbourne side.
Melbourne’s shaky defence holds on
There were plenty of early warning signs for Melbourne’s defence early. Chris Harold nervously found himself in promising positions early, while Thomas Sorensen was forced into a save from Sidnei’s stooping header. Even as City put goals away up the other end, Perth continued to find space on the edge of the area, and were presented with numerous chances. The home side continued to ride their luck, seeing Sidnei’s header ruled out after it was deemed an offside Michael Thwaite had obstructed a defender in the lead up. They were less lucky a few minutes later, when an unmarked Sidnei headed home at the near post. It was a similar story in the second-half, as City continued to look suspect in defence. Even as they continued to put goals past their opponent, they still looked liable to concede. Admittedly, this is a defence missing Aaron Hughes and Patrick Kisnorbo, but against sharper teams, City will not be let off the hook so easily.
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