A hat-trick from Jamie MacLaren earned Perth Glory a 3-1 win over Melbourne City in their A-League match at the Nib Stadium this morning.
It was the visitors who made the brighter start as Aaron Mooy and Harry Novillo charged into the Perth box early on, with a free kick from the latter forcing Danny Vukovic to make a diving save.
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The Glory goalkeeper continued to come under pressure as Novillo threatened again, but Vukovic diverted his shot behind with a one-handed save, before the Melbourne striker fired high from the resulting corner.
Jonatan Germano was next to test the Perth keeper when he attempted to head in from a Mooy free kick, but once again Vukovic's reactions kept the scores level.
While Vukovic continued to make saves for the hosts, Glory started to see more of the ball and came close to opening the scoring when Joshua Risdon spotted Tando Velaphi off his line, but the visiting keeper just got enough on it to tip the chip behind.
The home side opened the scoring just before the break after continuing to build the pressure, resulting in Danny de Silva sending a high ball in for MacLaren to turn in.
There was a further blow for the visitors before half time as Paulo Retre was booked for fouls on De Silva and Denis Kramar in quick succession to leave City a man short for the rest of the match.
Despite the visitors being reduced to 10 men, Vukovic was again the busier keeper at the start of the second half as Novillo unleashed a rasping effort from the edge of the box, and tried to tap in at the near post moments later only to be denied on both occasions.
The Melbourne side were back on level terms early in the second half, though, as Novillo won a free kick which Mooy curled into the top corner from just outside the box.
Glory soon started to make their man advantage count, and edged ahead when Velaphi spilled a De Silva shot into the path of MacLaren, leaving the midfielder with an easy finish for his second of the day.
Dino Djulbic tried to extend Perth's lead further a few minutes later as Kramar crossed the ball in from out wide, but his header was just a fraction high.
The home side dominated the final 15 minutes as they pushed to put the win beyond doubt, eventually resulting in MacLaren completing his first A-League hat-trick with just a few minutes to spare, drilling the ball into the bottom corner.
The result leaves Perth third in the table, just three points behind leaders Melbourne Victory with one match still to play before the playoffs.
Sian Cowper
