Bren O'Brien, Sportal

Richard Kitzbichler celebrates

A-League © A-League

Kevin Muscat's 86th-minute penalty has allowed Melbourne to grab a point in its opening home Hyundai A-League match against Perth Glory at Olympic Park.

A crowd of 17,960 turned out and they were treated to a cracking match, which ebbed and flowed as first Melbourne took the lead through Richard Kitzbichler, before Adrian Caceres equalised late in the first half. Perth took the lead early in the second half through Bobby Despotovski before Muscat stepped up late in the game to send the fans home with something.

The Victory have now claimed two draws in their first two games, while the Glory picked up their first point after last week's home loss to Central Coast.

The Victory allowed the Perth defence very little time to settle in, moving the ball quickly through the midfield to set up chances. The first real opportunity resulted in a goal when a Kristian Sarkies free kick wasn't cleared properly by Jamie Harnwell. The ball fell to Kitzbichler and he struck his shot well to beat Jason Petkovic.

The next ten minutes were dominated by Melbourne, who continued to create chances, the best of which, a shot by Danny Allsopp, was turned past the left post by Petkovic. Sarkies was also creating plenty of headaches and he had two opportunities but hit both of them over the bar.

The tempo dropped towards the end of the first half and it allowed Perth to settle into the match and fashion an unlikely equaliser. Scott Miller's speculative effort brought Eugene Galekovic off his line and he fumbled the ball to Caceres who cleverly slotted home on 40 minutes.

"I didn't actually look at it," Caceres said. "The keeper just came out and I had a shot. I'm delighted to have got on the scoresheet but not so happy we didn't get the three points."

The Glory went to the break with the momentum and continued to press forward, but it was Melbourne who had the first chance to break the deadlock in the second half when substitute Ricky Diaco, who had come on for Andy Vlahos, shot wide.

It was Perth who took the lead after 56 minutes when Despotovski latched on to the end of Brian Deane's header, waltzed past Geoff Claeys and Kevin Muscat before rifling home past Galekovic.

It should have been 3-1 ten minutes later when Perth's Nick Ward found himself alone in the box, but he couldn't hit the target. The Victory seemed to wake from their slumber and created a few good chances, the best a well hit free kick from Sarkies.

Michael Ferrante almost dipped a long-range shot past Petkovic and Diaco sent a good chance wide but there was another twist in the tale. Ante Kovacevic brought Carl Recchia down on the edge of the box and referee Matthew Breeze pointed to the spot.

Muscat finished well, hitting the ball to Petkovic's left, and while there were a few half chances, there were to be no more goals.

Coach Ernie Merrick was pleased with the way the Victory went about its task, but felt they should have taken their chances.

"I thought we had about 300 chances and scored two goals without Archie Thompson, which I thought was terrific," Merrick said after the match. "You can never start too well, the more goals that come earlier the better. It was a great start and great finish thanks to Kevin's penalty."

Muscat's late heroics were greeted with a massive roar from the crowd. The experienced international player said it was the best atmosphere he had played in on home soil.

"Unfortunately we didn't get the three points to send them home delirious," Muscat said. "It was a special occasion for us here tonight, so many tickets sold pre-game, it's unheard of in Melbourne, so hopefully everyone who was here will turn out to support us next time."

Glory coach Steve McMahon said there was a sense of relief to have secured a point after a first-up loss.

"We've played in fits and starts all throughout the pre-season, but we were able to put together a strong performance today after going behind early," he said.

Melbourne Victory 2 (Kitzbichler 10, Muscat 86p)
Perth Glory 2 (Caceres 40, Despotovski 56)

Crowd: 17,960