Reds beaten 4-0 by Perth Glory at HBF Park

It was a tough trip west for the Reds, who held most of the ball at HBF Park but could not turn that control into clear chances.

Perth Glory were sharp when it mattered in the first half and led 3-0 at the break. United responded after the interval with a more competitive display, but the damage had been done and the result is one the Reds will want to put right.

First half

United had the first sight of goal at HBF Park in the third minute, when Joey Garuccio’s left-footed effort from outside the box was saved low by Daniel Solsky after Luke Duzel’s pass. Fabian Talladira was shown a yellow card for a foul in the fifth minute.

It was an open start. Joshua Smits held Tom Lawrence’s strike from outside the box in the seventh minute, Brody Burkitt tested Solsky from the right side of the box two minutes later after another Duzel pass, and Duzel then sent a direct free kick over the bar. Smits was called on again in the 15th minute to keep out Tadiwanashe Kuzamba from the centre of the box.

The Glory broke through a minute later, Jaiden Kucharski striking a left-footed shot from the centre of the box into the bottom right corner for 1-0 in the 16th minute. Four minutes after that, Kucharski turned provider and Kuzamba finished right-footed from the centre of the box into the bottom left corner to make it 2-0 on 20 minutes.

The Reds kept the ball in their 4-3-3 and pushed for a way back. Amlani Tatu was blocked from the left side of the box and Talladira’s effort following a corner went wide, before Smits denied Cher Deng’s close-range header in the 32nd minute. From a corner a minute later, Stefan Colakovski made it 3-0 from very close range.

United kept pressing to the break. Duzel tried from distance on 40 minutes, and in stoppage time Burkitt was blocked and Feyzo Kasumovic headed a Talladira cross from a corner wide. The Reds went into the interval 3-0 down.

Second half

Airton Andrioli responded at the interval with a triple change, Ajak Riak, Harry Crawford and Juan Muñiz coming on for Brody Burkitt, Luke Duzel and Ethan Alagich. The Reds started the second half on the front foot, and Amlani Tatu went close in the 47th minute, his right-footed shot from a difficult angle just missing the top right corner after Crawford’s assist.

United kept pushing for a way back. Muñiz had a left-footed effort from outside the box blocked in the 55th minute after Jonny Yull’s pass, while at the other end Pieter Jacobsz sent a left-footed shot just wide for Perth Glory.

Perth rotated through the hour mark, with Giovanni De Abreu, Sebastian Kukucka, Sebastian Despotovski and Jay O’Shea all coming on. Joshua Smits denied Despotovski from very close range straight away, and Ryan Kitto and Anselmo replaced Fabian Talladira and Yull for United in the 67th minute.

Kitto went close in the 74th minute, a header from Muñiz’s cross that Daniel Solsky saved low in the bottom left corner. Smits then stopped Matthew Ellis in the 78th minute, but Ellis got the better of the Reds in the 85th, heading in Kukucka’s cross to make it 4-0. Muñiz was shown a yellow card in the same passage.

United kept going to the end. Riak had a left-footed effort blocked from the left side of the six-yard box in the first minute of stoppage time, and Crawford’s right-footed attempt from the left side of the box was just a bit too high after Joey Garuccio’s pass. The final whistle confirmed a 4-0 defeat, though United conceded just once after the break.

Full time

It was a disappointing way to finish in the west, and the 4-0 scoreline at HBF Park is one the Reds will not dress up. Perth Glory finished with nine shots on target to United’s three, and that gap in the final third told the story. There was still something to hold on to in how United went about it, though. They had 65.5% of possession and completed 489 of 575 passes against Perth’s 297, and both sides had 14 shots, so the Reds were not short of attempts. The task now is to turn that control into clear chances on target, while Joshua Smits’ five saves deserve credit for stopping the margin growing further.

United still hold the edge in the overall head-to-head. Heading into this match the Reds led 26 wins to 20, with 15 draws, and one afternoon in Perth does not change the shape of that rivalry. For Reds fans, this is a result to take on the chin and a performance to learn from, with the possession and the second-half response as a base to build on. The group now needs to regroup, sharpen the final ball and make its share of the game count in front of goal.

Match details

Next match

Adelaide United return to Coopers Stadium to host Melbourne Victory on Sunday 8 November, with kick-off at 4:30pm ACDT, and the Reds will be looking for their first points of the season after a tough week in the west.