Castro magic, 16th minute:
Melbourne City's defending for the opening goal, and most of the game, was poor ??- but that didn't detract from the sublime skill that led to Diego Castro's opener.
His 26th goal for the Glory in his 52nd game came after Rostyn Griffths played a lovely cross-field pass to Andy Keogh, who collected on the edge of the box and then waited for Castro to enter the area.
Castro received Keogh's pass, made Ivan Franjic and Ruon Tongyik look listless, and then curled the ball home. Incredibly, there were eight City players in the box when Castro scored.
#ExSportingXM
Ya lleg?? el GOL de Diego Castro para acercar al Perth Glory a las semis de la A-League. pic.twitter.com/x5QX6r3CKh??? David Acebal (@dacebal) April 23, 2017
Castro brilliant again, former Citizen salutes, 30th minute:
A beautiful ball from Castro found former Melbourne City winger Joel Chianese, who wrong-footed Michael Jakobsen in the box and tucked a shot neatly past Dean Bouzanis to make it 2-0.
Remarkably, Castro ran with the ball from his own half to forward of Perth's centre semi-circle unchallenged by a totally careless Melbourne City midfield to make the pass.
Again, the Glory skilfully took advantage of City's horrible defending, which this time started further up the field with Osama Malik in midfield.
Marquee man substituted, 70th minute
When City signed Nicolas Colazo as their international marquee player in September 2016, they would have hoped he would have played an important role for 90 minutes in any sudden death final the team might find themselves in.
The 26-year-old winger, on loan from Boca Juniors, tried hard to get into Sunday's game but didn't influence it at any stage. Much like his admittedly injury-affected season of 17 appearances and three goals, Colazo was close but not close enough for his team.
It remains to be seen whether Colazo will stay in the A-League for another season.
The game changer
Diego Castro was by far the best man on the field for his poise, ruthless forward play and skill.
The former La Liga man, who played for Sporting de Gijon and Getafe, was outstanding as the Glory's chief attacking weapon and his influence on the game was unmatched as he scored the first goal and provided the second.
Along with Castro's dominance, the Glory were helped to their win by super performances from striker Andy Keogh and Rostyn Griffiths, who dwarfed all others in the game's midfield battle.
The crowd
9944 frustrated fans, minus 50-100 ecstatic Glory supporters. For a must-win final it is a poor figure, although there were a couple of qualifying factors, including the time and day (Sunday 7pm) and ticket prices.
City had no bearing on the scheduling of the game and behind closed doors were filthy at the FFA and Fox Sports for scheduling the game at what was seen as a more tv-rating-friendly time.
The figure fell just short of City's season average of 10,573, which included a crowd of over 24,000 for a home AAMI Park Melbourne Derby.
Questions for City
Does Michael Valkanis keep his interim role as coach into next season? Who gets the chop from the most expensive squad ever assembled in the A-League?
Next week's semi finals:
- Sydney FC vs Perth Glory - Saturday April 29, 6:50pm, Sydney Football Stadium
- Melbourne Victory vs Brisbane Roar - Sunday April 30, AAMI Park
