Perth Glory crushes Victory

Glory striker Shane Smeltz nabbed a first-half double and Mile Sterjovski added another as Perth raced to a 3-0 lead by the break.

Two of those goals came via the penalty spot as Melbourne was made to pay for a series of defensive errors.

Victory star Harry Kewell pulled one back for the visitor with his own penalty in the 68th minute, but Melbourne finished the match with 10 men after substitute Danny Allsopp was given a straight red for his 78th-minute studs-up challenge on Steve Pantelidis.

Glory substitute Andrezinho then added the icing on the cake in the 89th minute, outsmarting defender Matthew Foschini before unleashing a powerful left-foot drive to make it a three-goal win in front of 12,358 adoring fans.

Victory sits now a worrying four points adrift of sixth spot ahead of Thursday's crucial clash with Sydney FC.

Perth, who extended its unbeaten streak to six games, is now just one point behind fourth-placed Heart and finally looking like a legitimate championship contender.

Smeltz opened the scoring in open play in the 13th minute, but it was the way that Victory conceded the next two goals that would have had Magilton pulling his hair out.

Captain Adrian Leijer was the first to offend, wrapping his arms around Todd Howarth and bringing the Glory defender to ground as the pair jostled for position on the goal-line at a set piece.

Leijer had been warned just moments earlier to tone down the jostling, and referee Peter Green had no hesitation in pointing to the spot after witnessing Leijer continue with the tactics.

Smeltz tucked away the 35th-minute spot kick, and Perth was awarded another penalty just seven minutes later when Foschini hacked at the legs of former Victory speedster Evan Berger.

The tackle - just inside the box - was an unnecessary one, with Berger unlikely to have posed much of a threat given the angle he was running on.

Although a hat-trick was in the offering for Smeltz, it was Sterjovski who stepped up this time to tuck away the penalty.