Goals to skipper Joey Katebian and Jesse Makarounas helped steer an experienced Melbourne Victory Youth to a convincing 3-0 win over Perth Glory, their first points of the season.
The hosts were aided by the presence of senior squad semi-regulars Lawrence Thomas, Giancarlo Gallifuoco, Scott Galloway and Makarounas, who all saw important game time.
An unfortunate own goal to Glory defender Aleks Susjnar – who was also sent off for a last ditch tackle on Katebian in the second half – opened the account for the Victory in just the 14th minute.
That goal was set up by a brilliant run down the right flank by Pierce Waring who surged into the area and cut the ball hard across the goal, only for for Susjnar to poke a left boot deflection past keeper Jordan Thurtell.
The Perth keeper – brother of Bentleigh Greens’ Matt Thurtell – stood firm in the 33rd minute to deny Katebian, who connected onto a Makarounas corner and angled a solid header towards the bottom corner of the net, only for the shot-stopper to come up with a stunning save for the Glory.
However, he could do little in the way of stopping the Victory’s second goal – John Maclean climbed high above his marking defender and headed the ball down f0r a waiting Katebian, who turned and struck with the last action of the first half.
Perth were forced to play out the contest with 10-men after Sisnjar’s two-footed tackle from behind on Katebian halted the forward as he charged towards goal – leaving the referee with no option but a straight red.
A few mins later the game was sealed via some neat interplay in the penalty area; Maclean found a clean pass into Katebian, who smartly pushes the ball past the penalty spot to a waiting Makarounas who then passed the ball into an open net for a 3-0 lead.
The game evened out in the final half an hour as the Glory stoically battled it out with 10 men despite Victory’s wealth of possession.
Overall, it was a significant turnaround for the Victory who had conceded seven goals in their first two matches, this time Lawrence Thomas in goal was rarely challenged throughout the match.
The result for Perth leaves them with just one point from their first three matches heading into the bye, languishing last on the ladder with just the one goal from their draw last week with City.
Victory will be fired up for the first Melbourne Youth Derby of the season against Melbourne City, as they do battle at Lakeside Stadium next Sunday at 4pm.
Melbourne Victory 3 (OG 14′, Katebian 45+1′, Makarounas 57′) defeated Perth Glory 0 at Lakeside Stadium [HT: 2-0]
Melbourne Victory: 18. Christian Cavallo, 4. Thomas Deng, 10. Kieran Dover, 3. Scott Galloway, 9. Joey Katebian, 11. John Maclean, 6. Stefan Nigro, 12. Pierce Waring, 20. Lawrence Thomas (GK), 15. Giancarlo Gallifuoco, 13. Jesse Makarounas
Substitutes: 1. Lucas Spinella (GK), 5. James Xydias , 7. Lucas Derrick, 8. Anthony Duzel,
Perth Glory: 5. Jacob Collard, 2. Henry Durr, 9. Joseph Knowles, 5. Ross Millard, 8. Dejan Spaseski, 4. Aleks Susjnar, 11. Nikola Talimozioski, 1. Jordan Thurtell (GK), 7. Stefan Valentini, 10. Slobodan Vulin, 6. Calvin Whitney
Substitutes: 20. Joel Driscoll (GK), 13. Walleldin Ismail, 14. Hayden Stephens, 12. Sean Troup,