A-League Review: Glory falter while Williams hits hat-trick for Phoenix

Perth Glory’s grip on first place softened after Melbourne Victory ran out 2-0 winners at HBF Park, with Ola Toivonen scoring the 5,000th A-League goal before Keisuke Honda netted a penalty.

Kevin Muscat’s third-placed side, who are still in with a chance of claiming top spot, took the lead after 25 minutes when Toivonen scored with a curling free-kick from 20 yards.

A handball by Scott Neville prompted a VAR consultation before Honda scored his fourth goal from the penalty spot this season, and Victory withstood a strong fightback from the league leaders to claim an impressive win.

Glory are six points clear of Sydney after 23 games, with Victory a further point back.

Meanwhile, at Westpac Stadium, David Williams scored a superb hat-trick as Wellington Phoenix romped to a 4-1 win over Newcastle Jets that left the visitors’ play-off hopes in serious doubt.

In the absence of suspended Wellington striker Roy Krishna, Williams netted his first before many supporters had taken their seats after 29 seconds, but the Jets steadied themselves and were only trailing 1-0 at the break.

FULL TIME | 2-0 | @gomvfc claim the glory tonight!#PERvMVC #ALeague pic.twitter.com/RL4sCLt7Bp

— Hyundai A-League (@ALeague) March 30, 2019

A penalty on the hour mark allowed Williams to double his tally and Phoenix’s lead before Roy O’Donovan pulled one back for the visitors.

But Williams scored the pick of the goals with a thunderous strike on 65 minutes and Sarpreet Singh made it 4-1 with a curling finish soon after.

Elsewhere, Western Sydney Wanderers turned their home form around with a 3-0 win over Melbourne City, who are short of their best in recent weeks.

Oriol Riera scored either side of Mitchell Duke’s cool finish to end Wanderers’ seven-match losing streak at ANZ Stadium.