“We were poor tonight. Poor in every way, shape and form and got rightly punished for an unacceptable performance,” Victory coach Ange Postecoglou said after the 3-2 loss to Perth Glory.
Even with a clear home advantage, Victory’s sleepy defence let too many balls through and created an easy target for Glory.
With their star players missing for international duty, like Archie Thompson, Marco Rojas and Mark Milligan, Postecoglou wasn’t going to use them as an excuse for their poor performance.
“The way we played tonight was unacceptable regardless of who was out there and who wasn’t,” he said.
“We need a better effort and attitude going into these games because we’re going into the business end of the season.
“It’s not about the short term, it’s about who we want to be and the standards we want to set – and I didn’t see 14 footballers fighting for their lives today.”
Adrian Leijer scored the opener for Victory after 13 minutes, but Glory shot to a 2-1 half-time lead thanks to goals from Chris Harold and Travis Dodd.
Irish important Liam Miller had a hand in both strikes and was a continuing influence all through the match.
Melbourne is at risk of losing third spot, sitting only a point in front of Adelaide United having played a game more.
Perth Glory: 3 (C Harold 20′, T Dodd 38′, J Risdon 90’+3)
Melbourne Victory: 2 (A Leijer 13′, C Christaldo 89′)
