Glory looking unstoppable as finals denied Melbourne derby

Perth Glory’s resounding finish to the regular season should be enough to send a clear message to their rivals.

Perth Glory playmaker Diego Castro controls the ball against Wellington Phoenix at HBF Park. Picture: Getty Images

If the Premiers Plate success wasn’t enough of a statement, then Perth Glory’s resounding finish to the regular season should be enough to send a clear message to their rivals ahead of the start of the A-League finals next week.

In second gear for much of the game against a depleted Wellington Phoenix, Glory further enhanced their title claims with a thumping 5-0 win at HBF Park.

But while Glory fans and coach Tony Popovic will be very pleased with the result, Football Federation Australia won’t be so enthused as it will rob the finals of a Melbourne derby.

In a season of too many lows with shrinking crowds and embarrassing television ratings, FFA would have been hoping for the sugar hit of a derby between Melbourne Victory and Melbourne City in the first week of the finals.

For that to happen, it needed Phoenix to do no worse than lose by a single goal to ensure they kept hold of fifth spot ahead of Melbourne City, but Glory refused to play their part. As a result, City leapfrogged the Kiwis by way of a superior goal difference.

As a result, the elimination finals will see Victory (third) play Wellington (sixth) at AAMI Park on Friday night, and Adelaide United (fourth) will host Melbourne City (fifth) at Coopers Stadium on Sunday night.

Perth and second-placed Sydney FC have earned a bye in the first week of the finals. Glory will then play the lowest-ranked winner in a semi-final and Sydney the highest-ranked winner.

Glory, beaten just twice in the regular season on the way to winning their first trophy in the A-League era, have been installed $2.10 favourites for the championship and it is hard to argue.

They were in a mean mood against the Phoenix, having the game all but wrapped up at halftime when they led 2-0 courtesy of a double from Andy Keogh. When Diego Castro made it 3-0 not long into the second half it seemed a matter of how many the home side would score.

While both coaches made six changes to their respective line-ups, it was a huge contrast in terms of why they made those changes.

Knowing his side would have the bye in the first week of the finals, Popovic opted to play his best side, unconcerned by the prospect of key players picking up injuries in order to maintain fitness and build momentum.

Having made considerable changes for the game against Sydney FC last week — a game that meant nothing given his side had secured the Premiers Plate — Popovic brought in Dino Djulbic, Keogh, Socceroos striker Chris Ikonomidis, Castro, Jason Davidson and Matthew Spiranovic.

On the other hand, Phoenix coach Mark Rudan had his hands tied somewhat given he had to leave out two key players, Andrew Durante and Alex Rufer, because they were each sitting on an automatic one-week suspension had they played and picked up a yellow card and would have missed next week’s elimination final.

With a finals spot wrapped up, the final finishing position wasn’t of real concern for Rudan, which is why he also opted not to start with several important players, including the A-League’s leading goalscorer, Roy Krishna, who was left on the bench.

As expected, Glory started in spirited fashion and were relentless as they looked to break Phoenix early.

In particular Ikonomidis, back in the side after missing the previous two games through injury, looked threatening every time he got on the ball. He was rewarded when he slotted home Perth’s fourth of the night on 65 minutes. Brendon Santalab completed the rout on 83 minutes, stretching to reach a Joel Chianese pass.