AAP
Ten-man Perth Glory scored the only goal of the night at nib Stadium, but it was into the wrong net to hand Melbourne Victory a 1-0 A-League victory on Saturday.
The goal came in the 24th minute when Marco Rojas delivered in a good cross to the box and defender Scott Jamieson toe-poked the ball into the back of his own goal.
Despite Jamieson misfortune, it was Perth who created the better chances either side of half-time.
Travis Dodd was unlucky not to score in the 51st minute when he fired a blistering shot that was pushed wide by Victory keeper Nathan Coe.
Coe made several saves to preserve the Victory's lead as the Glory peppered his goal.
However, but the game took a turn in the 68th minute when Josh Risdon was sent off for the hosts.
Risdon had already received one yellow card and then went in for a challenge low on Leigh Broxham in the 68th minute, referee Regis Queffelec didn't like it and sent him from the field.
That meant the Glory had to play the last 25 minutes a man down, but it didn't stop them from pressing forward.
In the 91st minute substitute Ryo Nagai delivered a superb strike from long range that left Coe with no chance but rattled the underside of the crossbar and bounced on the line and was cleared to safety.
Melbourne's win keeps them just two points behind second-placed Adelaide.
Meanwhile, Perth remain in eighth and could slip to second last if Brisbane beat the Western Sydney Wanderers at home on Sunday.
Victory coach Ange Postecoglou said it wasn't his team's most sparkling performance, but the three points to keep pace with Central Coast and Adelaide was what mattered most.
"It wasn't pleasing on the eye from our point of view in terms of how we want to play," Postecoglou said.
"There were times when we knocked it around OK and we set ourselves up to play on the counter attack, which we did but we didn't finish it off.
"In the context of the season as well with the way the other results went, the result was the most important thing and we got that."
Glory coach Ian Ferguson was reasonably pleased with the effort, but said effort counts for little when you continue to take nothing out of games and are sliding down the ladder.
"We have nothing to show for it again. I am sick and tired of their hard luck stories, we need to convert them into points," Ferguson said.
"It's frustrating, but we have to keep going and keep believing in what we are doing because I think what we are doing is on the right road. We just need to convert some of these chances."
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