A-League: Diego Castro leads Perth Glory to 3-0 win at Central Coast Mariners

Joe Wright

A-League: Diego Castro leads Perth Glory to 3-0 win at Central Coast Mariners image

Perth Glory will end 2019 in third place in the A-League after a 3-0 victory away to Central Coast Mariners on Tuesday.

Diego Castro was the inspiration, scoring once and assisting another, as Tony Popovic's side coped better with the difficult conditions to claim a fourth win in a row.

The Mariners hit the post inside the first minute through Daniel De Silva, but chances were scarce in a first half affected by strong winds and concerns over air quality as a result of the New South Wales bush fires.

Castro broke the deadlock in first-half injury time, though, rifling a half-volley through a crowded box and into the bottom-left corner from 18 yards out.

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Perth struck again three minutes after the restart when Joel Chianese headed in James Meredith's cross, and it was 3-0 just past the hour mark, Castro teeing up Bruno Fornaroli for a simple finish after a costly stumble from Ziggy Gordon.

Perth will finish the year 10 points behind leaders Sydney FC, although the loss of Gregory Wuthrich to an apparent knee injury will be a concern.

Central Coast are a point off the bottom in ninth place.

Joe Wright

Joe Wright Photo

Joe is a Senior Editor at Sporting News. He was previously a sub editor and writer for Goal.com before spending six years as part of the Stats Perform editorial news service, covering major global sports including football, tennis, boxing, NBA, rugby union and athletics. Joe has reported live on some of the biggest games in football, including two UEFA Champions League finals, Euro 2016, the Confederations Cup 2017 and the 2018 World Cup final at the end of a month in Russia.