Perth Glory striker Shane Smeltz has scored a brace to send the Melbourne Victory to a 4-1 defeat in the A-League clash in Perth.
New Melbourne Victory coach Jim Magilton was given a stark reality check after watching his ill-disciplined side slump to a 4-1 A-League defeat to Perth Glory at nib Stadium on Sunday.
In arguably the worst display by the Victory this season, Glory striker Shane Smeltz nabbed a first-half double and Mile Sterjovski added another as Perth raced to a 3-0 lead by the break.
Two of those goals came via the penalty spot as Melbourne were made to pay for a series of woeful defensive errors.
Victory star Harry Kewell pulled one back for the visitors with his own penalty in the 68th minute, but the visitors finished the match with 10 men after substitute Danny Allsopp was given a straight red for his 78th-minute studs-up challenge on Steve Pantelidis.
Glory substitute Andrezinho then added the icing on the cake in the 89th minute, outsmarting defender Matthew Foschini before unleashing a powerful left-foot drive to make it a three-goal win in front of 12,358 adoring fans.
Under the reign of Magilton, Melbourne have snared just one point out of a possible six, with the Victory now a worrying four points adrift of sixth spot ahead of Thursday’s crucial clash with Sydney at AAMI Park.
Perth, who extended their unbeaten streak to six games, are now just one point behind fourth-placed Heart and finally look like a legitimate championship contender.
Smeltz opened the scoring in open play in the 13th minute, but it was the way that Victory conceded the next two goals that would have had Magilton pulling his hair out.
Captain Adrian Leijer was the first to offend, wrapping his arms around Todd Howarth and bringing the Glory defender to ground as the pair jostled for position on the goal-line at a set piece.
Leijer had been warned just moments earlier to tone down the jostling, and referee Peter Green had no hesitation in pointing to the spot after witnessing Leijer continue with the tactics.
Smeltz tucked away the 35th-minute spot kick, and the Glory were awarded another penalty just seven minutes later when Foschini hacked at the legs of former Victory speedster Evan Berger.
The tackle – just inside the box – was an unnecessary one, with Berger unlikely to have posed much of a threat given the angle he was running on.
Although a hat-trick was in the offering for Smeltz, it was Sterjovski who stepped up this time to tuck away the penalty.
Such was their dominance, the Glory could have easily finished the match with upwards of six goals.
Magilton said he was shocked by the result, and forecast making changes to the squad while the transfer window was still open.
“I think what’s happened here is they’ve gone into a run and a rut, and I think the sooner we can change personnel, the better,” a forthright Magilton said.
“You can’t hide away from it. You have to be brutally honest and say the better side won.
“But you have to stick together. We have a game on Thursday, so it’s a quick turnover. And the wonderful thing about this game is they all get a second chance, or some of them get a second chance.
“We’ve learnt painful lessons today.”
Glory coach Ian Ferguson said he was pleased with how his team were gelling.
“I’ve always said we would score three or four in a game,” Ferguson said.
“Even though there were two penalties in there, we created enough chances to score more.”
