Robbie Kruse sparks Victory to A-League win over Perth Glory

Robbie Kruse proved the hero as Melbourne Victory kickstarted their ailing season with a crucial 1-0 win over Perth Glory.

Melbourne Victory’s Robbie Kruse, fourth from left, is congratulated by teammates after scoring against Perth Glory at AAMI Park. Picture: Getty Images

Robbie Kruse proved the hero as Melbourne Victory kickstarted their ailing A-League season with a crucial 1-0 win over Perth Glory at AAMI Park.

In his first start since returning to the club that launched his career, Kruse set the tone early for Victory with a clattering challenge on Ivan Franjic.

The Socceroo maintained that intensity throughout a dominant performance highlighted by scoring the matchwinner.

While Victory’s performance wasn’t completely convincing on Friday, it should ease the pressure on boss Marco Kurz – whose image on the big screen pre-game attracted a rumbling of boos from a small section of the 13,084 home crowd.

The Victory coach had emphasised the need for his team to get back to basics after a lacklustre loss to Adelaide and from the opening minutes at AAMI Park, there was clearly an improvement in intent and aggression from his side.

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Victory’s night got complicated before it even began.

Storm Roux was a late withdrawal with illness, with youngster Brandon Lauton expected to replace him at right back.

Then Lauton pulled up with tightness in his back during the warm-up and was in turn replaced by Anthony Lesiotis.

Those pre-game setbacks didn’t seem to affect Victory, who dominated the early exchanges as the much-vaunted attacking trio of Kruse, Ola Toivonen and Andrew Nabbout looked threatening.

After dominating proceedings for the opening half-hour, Victory’s breakthrough came in the 33rd minute.

Jakob Poulsen found Adama Traore, who hesitated on the ball for a moment before whipping a cross through a cluster of players to Nabbout at the back post. He turned on the ball but found enough control to slide it across goal for Kruse to tap home ahead of Gregory Wuthrich.

Perth regained a foothold in the match after halftime, with Bruno Fornaroli wriggling free of Leigh Broxham to hit the post in the 50th minute and Alex Grant clipped the bar with a header 10 minutes later.

While Perth dominated possession, Victory seemed largely content to soak up pressure and play on the counter.

Kruse was warmly applauded from the field when he was substituted in the 88th minute before celebrations among the crowd intensified to mark Victory’s second win of the season.

AAP