Perth Glory have beaten a 10-man Melbourne City 3-1 at nib Stadium thanks to a Jamie Maclaren hat-trick.
With the Glory barred from the finals for breaching the salary cap and City to finish fifth no matter the result, neither side reached any great heights but the Maclaren hat-trick gave the loyal home fans something to cheer for.
After Maclaren's first goal just before half-time, the visitors lost Paulo Retre to a second yellow card but City levelled with a brilliant Aaron Mooy free-kick in the 52nd minute.
Soon after Danny De Silva had an attacking run stopped by Tando Velaphi but the ball spilled for Maclaren to find the open net to make the score 2-1 in the 65th minute. Speedy attacker Chris Harold then made a good run and cross to allow Maclaren to complete hi shat-trick. Glory goalkeeper Danny Vukovic was superb on a tough afternoon for the club.
Vukovic made several key saves throughout the match but even the in-form stopper couldn't repel Mooy's stunning free-kick, which soared over the wall and into the left corner early in the second half.
Only 5,821 fans showed up at nib Stadium after Glory accepted the findings and punishment from Football Federation Australia for breaching the salary cap, that saw them fined $269,000 and kicked out of the finals. Glory coach Kenny Lowe was happy to see fans still attend despite the threats of a mass boycott for the last home game.
"I was just pleased for them. They are hurt as much as we are hurt, and the fact that they still came to support the boys is testament to them," Lowe said.
"It's nice to win and give them something back. We've had an unbelievable year but also an unbelievably tough year. We've got to deal with that and go and get better, and learn from whatever has gone on. It will be interesting."
City coach John van't Schip couldn't hide his disappointment about the performance with just one week to go before the finals.
"I am very disappointed because in the first half you have to finish it off but if the mindset's not good even if you get 11 or 12 opportunities then the goals aren't going to go in," van't Schip said.
"If you don't want it enough it's not going to happen and that was a clear example today. Hopefully we can learn from this and take it with us, that's the only positive I can see from this game. Other than that, it is a very disappointing day here in Perth."
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