Glory hold Sky Blues to A-League draw before sparse crowd

Ladder leaders Sydney FC have dropped points in a scoreless draw with Perth before a sparse crowd.

Milos Ninkovic, left, of Sydney FC and Nicholas Dagostino of Perth Glory during the round-23 A-League match on Saturday at Netstrata Jubilee Stadium in Sydney. Picture: Getty Images

Runaway A-League leaders Sydney FC have dropped points for just the fourth time this season, with Perth picking up a share of the spoils in a scoreless encounter.

Saturday evening’s grand-final soccer rematch failed to produce much action until the hour mark when goalscoring opportunities finally materialised with regularity.

Sydney’s midfielder Luke Brattan had a goal chalked off for handball, but the Glory had the better of long periods during the second half at Jubilee Oval in Sydney.

The best chance of the contest fell to Milos Ninkovic with only four minutes remaining, but the Sydney FC midfielder was unable to beat an exposed Liam Reddy in the Glory goal.

It was a similar story for Trent Buhagiar but the substitute pushed his angled effort just wide of the post with the last kick of the match.

The fourth-placed Glory had notable opportunities through Diego Castro and Bruno Fornaroli but the normally deadly pair were unable to find their usual composure when it mattered.

The slippery surface perhaps added to the low-key nature of the contest as did the sparse 4099 crowd, which barely seemed to number four figures at kick-off.

It is just the second time in 14 outings that the Sky Blues have failed to take maximum points off the Glory.

AAP