Perth Glory 0-1 Melbourne Victory
by Alyce Collett (3/4/26)
Above: A well timed header from Claudia Bunge (far left) was the difference on the scoreboard for Melbourne Victory. Photo: Rob Lizzi for Impetus.
Melbourne Victory has picked up an important 1-0 win tonight, and for the moment has moved into the top six of the A-League Women’s ladder.
It was a trademark header from Claudia Bunge that got the job done on the scoreboard, but Perth Glory did dominate for much of the match and will feel like the match is one that got away from them.
It was Perth Glory who initially took control of the percentage of time in attack, with Ella Abdul Massih in particular really lively on the wing.
The Glory thought they found reward for that effort just over 10 minutes into the match, but Gabby Hollar’s stellar curling goal was ultimately ruled offside.
Even early on in proceedings the match was starting to get heated, with frustration perhaps starting to get the better of some of those in the away camp.
However, despite all of Glory’s dominance in terms of control of the ball, it was Victory who would score the opener, and what turned out to be the match winner, thanks to the reliable head of Bunge.
After a well placed corner kick from Alana Jancevski, Bunge was perfectly placed to head the ball down with a fair bit of pace and into the back of the net.
Despite conceding the goal, the Glory’s intent to attack did not drop, and despite not finding access in their achieving their draw, they still kept fighting and working the ball into attack well.
The emotional heat in the match was also starting to rise as the match neared half time, with little moments really starting to bring out the frustrations of particularly those in purple and salmon.
However as hard as they tried they were unable to find that equaliser, and as such went into the half time break no doubt feeling plenty of frustrated emotions.
The half time stats told a very interesting story.
Perth Glory had 66% of the possession in the first half, but could only muster three shots on goal, none of which were on target. Victory meanwhile had two shots on goal in the first half and both were on target, despite having significantly less off the possession.
The final third entries stat was also a telling one, with Perth recording 34 of them and Victory recording 21 of them in the first half.
It was actually Victory who had the more positive start to the second half and had more of the time in attack initially.
However Perth did work its way back into the game and ended up winning many of the key stats for the second half. However they did not win the most important one of them all – the scoreboard – and as such their season came to an end.
Victory may be in the top six for the moment, but now the nervous wait begins to see if other results go their way and they keep that spot.
Teams: PERTH GLORY (4-3-3): Morrissey, Johnston, McKenna, Zogg, Sardo, Tovar, Cassidy, Westaway, Abdul Massih, Hollar, Badawiya. Substitutes: Anderson, Lincoln, Schroeder, Trew, Wainwright, Wood.
Melbourne Victory (4-4-1-1): Newbon, Pickett, Morrison, Bunge, Jancevski, White, Ray, Pollicina, Furphy, Lowe, O’Grady. Substitutes: Blissett, Flannery, Sakalis, Maher, Techera, Woodward
Scorers: Bunge 22′
Referee: Caitlin Williams.
Attendance: 952.
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