They call it the Magic of the Cup, and despite Perth Glory falling to Melbourne Victory in a penalty shootout, this young side showed some magic.
Glory came into this FFA Cup play-off as heavy underdogs once the teams were announced, in fact some bookmarkers were offering odds as high as five dollars for this young Perth side to win.
And when I say young, I mean young.
None of the starting XI was over the age of 21, with an average age of 18. This Glory side is raw.
Standing across from Perth was a team that wasn’t so raw as Victory showed up with a far more experienced side.
Melbourne started with A-League Men veterans such as Robbie Kruse, Stefan Nigro and Marco Rojas along with ex-Serie B centre-forward Francesco Margiotta.
And after just 37 seconds, this more experienced Victory side had already hit the front thanks to a Lleyton Brooks thunder-strike from distance.
For those who missed it, this was the opener from @gomvfc after 37 seconds. #PERvMVC #FFACup pic.twitter.com/kUGjcmzXY2
— FFA Cup (@FFACup) November 24, 2021
From that moment onwards, Victory looked in control and this game had early signs of a thrashing.
But this Glory side surprised everyone.
Perth netted one back in the 26th minute to draw it level through their young striker Joshua Anasmo, and that shifted the tide.
Glory then controlled possession for the rest of the game, they had solid chances and held Victory to non-threatening shots on goal only. This team of mainly teenagers turned up to play.
Even with weary legs, Perth still found a way to hold Victory at bay for a further 30 minutes and force it to go all the way to penalties.
Despite the result not falling their way in the end, this young and exciting Perth Glory side put up a superb effort and showed that the future is bright in Perth.
Feature Image Credit: Fotoenzo
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