Perth Glory beat Western Sydney to move up to third

Updated: May 17, 2023, 05:47 am

Perth Glory climbed up to third after a hard- fought 2-0 win over Western Sydney Wanderers at nib Stadium on Saturday night.

Chris Harold scored his second goal of the season -- courtesy of a deflection off Wanderers defender Robert Cornthwaite -- on the cusp on half-time before substitute Joel Chianese sealed the result in the 94th minute.

The gutsy win extended Glory's unbeaten streak to four matches, lifting the club ahead of both Melbourne City and Brisbane Roar with six rounds to play before the finals.

Western Sydney coach Tony Popovic made eight changes to the side which lost 4-0 to Japanese club Urawa in their opening match of the Asian Champions League on Tuesday, with only Scott Neville, Jumpei Kusukami and goalkeeper Vedran Janjetovic keeping their places in the Perth heat.

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The Wanderers, who play Shanghai SIPG in China on Tuesday, remain sixth, two points ahead of Wellington Phoenix.

Diego Castro turned in another class performance, regularly running circles around the Wanderers defence and having a hand in both of Glory's goals.

Most of Glory's chances fell in the first half, but Kenny Lowe's side were denied by some brilliant saves from Janjetovic. 

Adam Taggart and Rostyn Griffiths both had shots blocked on the line, while at the other end of the pitch Terry Antonis saw his free kick crash off the crossbar.

Janjetovic also made a diving save to his left to prevent Rhys Williams scoring his first goal for Perth.