Melbourne Victory showcased both their attacking prowess and defensive frailties on Sunday night, blowing a golden opportunity to cut Perth Glory’s lead at the top of the table to one point by squandering a two goal lead late in the contest to draw 3-3 at nib Stadium.
Fahid Ben Khalfallah, Besart Berisha and Kosta Barbarouses helped the visitors to a 3-1 lead – with an Andy Keogh penalty sandwiched in between Victory’s goals – before late efforts from Rostyn Griffiths and Jamie Maclaren earned the hosts a hard-fought point.
The early stages of the contest were physically dominated by Rostyn Griffiths, whose incessant fouls earned him an early yellow card.
Melbourne Victory made Parth pay on the scoreboard, however, with clever combination play between Gui Finkler and Khalfallah leading to the latter firing in a strike from outside 18 yards.
Perth hit back almost immediately through Andy Keogh, who converted from the spot after the speedy Chris Harold lost Daniel Georgievski on the wing and was felled by Nathan Coe in the box.
Victory threatened again before half time when Kosta Barbarouses tried a snap shot that took a deflection and troubled Danny Vukovic.
The pressure eventually paid off as Victory pounced on a Josh Risdon mistake, with Khalfallah receiving the ball in a dangerous area and teeing up Berisha for a neat finish.
Victory raced out of the blocks after the break with Leigh Broxham playing Berisha through on goal, with Vukovic on hand to deny the Albanian.
Perth were combusting at the back, epitomised when Barbarouses was allowed a clear route on goal, and despite Glory defenders blocking his attempt to lay off the ball for Berisha, he was able to pounce on the rebound to score.
Maclaren was brought on as an attacking substitution for Perth and almost made an immediate impact, beating Nick Ansell to the ball and forcing Nathan Coe into a save, before Leijer scrambled the ball away to safety.
He was involved again when finding Keogh in the box, who also forced the ‘keeper into a low save.
The resulting corner saw Coe come off his line only to be boxed out of the contest, leaving Griffiths with a free header on goal.
The Maclaren substitution turned into a masterstroke late in the contest, as the youngster was the next player to catch out Georgevski on the right wing and shoot into the bottom corner of the net.
The former Blackburn Rovers player had one last opportunity to snatch a late win for Perth, but his shot was desperately blocked in the box.
Perth Glory 3 (Keogh 22’, Dino Djulbic 79’, Maclaren 89’) drew with Melbourne Victory 3 (Khalfallah 18’, Berisha 42’, Barbarouses 57′)
Perth Glory: 1. Danny VUKOVIC (GK), 4. Riley WOODCOCK, 5. Rostyn GRIFFITHS, 6. Dino DJULBIC, 9. Andy KEOGH, 10. Nebojsa MARINKOVIC, 11. Richard GARCIA (15. Jamie MACLAREN 73’), 14. Chris HAROLD (27. Dragan PALJIC 31’), 19. Josh RISDON, 6. Ruben ZADKOVICH, 21. Scott JAMIESON, 23. Michael THWAITE (c)
Unused Substitutes: 80. Jordan THURTELL (GK), 2, Brandon O’NEILL, 20. Danny DE SILVA
Yellow Card(s): Griffiths 3’, Keogh 68’
Melbourne Victory: 1. Nathan COE (GK), 2. Jason GERIA, 23. Adrian LEIJER, 4. Nick ANSELL, 15. Daniel GEORGIEVSKI, 6. Leigh BROXHAM (c), 7. Gui FINKLER (11. Connor PAIN 80’), 21. Carl VALERI, 14. Fahid BEN KHALFALLAH, 9. Kosta BARBAROUSES, 8. Besart BERISHA (22. Jesse MAKAROUNAS 87’)
Unused Substitute: 20. Lawrence THOMAS (GK), 15. Rashid MAHAZI, 18. Dylan MURNANE