Perth Glory coach Richard Garcia has hailed the resilience and brains of his side after they secured a morale-boosting 2-1 win against Sydney FC in the A-League Men.
Glory captain and former Sky Blues midfielder Brandon O'Neill gave the visitors a 55th-minute lead on Saturday, slotting the ball home after goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne pushed out a shot from Jack Clisby.
Bruno Fornaroli doubled their advantage at Kogarah by lashing a shot into the net in the 85th minute.
Sydney got a goal back in added time as Alex Tobin Medal favourite Anthony Caceres converted a penalty won by new recruit Mustafa Amini who was bundled over by O'Neill.
«Tonight they played not only with their bodies but [also] with their brains and managed the game very well and managed themselves very well,» Garcia said.
At the 63-minute mark and with his team clinging to a 1-0 lead, Garcia made a daring double-substitution by introducing two strikers in former England striker Daniel Sturridge and Republic of Ireland international Andy Keogh.
«We started to get on the back foot and I thought if I bought the strikers on it might actually get us back on the front foot. So it was good we capitalised on that and we got another goal,» Garcia said.
Sturridge, who has yet to start and has made three cameo appearances off the bench, looked lively and released Adrian Sardinero with a great pass, but the Spaniard's close range attempt was blocked by Redmayne.
Garcia said it was another step in the right direction for the striker, who did appear to be struggling in the closing minutes.
«He said he had a bit of tightness so we'll check that out,» Garcia said.
He was non-committal about Sturridge starting the next game, but suggested the star recruit needed to play 45- and
Read more on abc.net.au
abc.net.au
