The Jets entered Saturday night's match having scored just four goals in six games this season, but the visitors were already 3-0 up inside 26 minutes courtesy of strikes to Thomas Aquilina, Lachlan Bayliss and Ben Gibson.
Gibson, playing just his seventh A-League match, added a second goal less than a minute into the second half to put the result beyond doubt.Â
The 21-year-old's first league goals helped extend Glory's winless run to 18 games, just one short of the A-League Men record.
.— Isuzu UTE A-League (@aleaguemen) @NewcastleJetsFC STUN Perth Glory with a three-goal first half! ⚡�Thomas Aquilina, Lachlan Bayliss & Ben Gibson give their side a 3-0 lead in just 26 minutes 🔥📺 Watch #PERvNEW live and exclusive now on Paramount+ pic.twitter.com/hJdgLxWaxpDecember 14, 2024
Zdrilic's first season in charge is proving a nightmare, with Glory on the bottom of the ladder with two draws and six losses from eight games.
Their defence has been woeful all season, Glory having conceded a whopping 24 goals across eight games.Â
Just this week, Glory chief executive Anthony Radich confirmed the club's board, led by owner Ross Pelligra, were backing Zdrilic 100 per cent.
Whether the latest horror show has changed that position remains to be seen.
"We need to apologise to the fans," Zdrilic said after the match.Â
"Everyone turned out and it's just not good enough.Â
"We didn't even give ourselves a chance to get into the game today with those early goals.Â
"It's just very simple errors. Defensively as a team, we just haven't been good enough."
The latest poor result came on the back of a week when it also came to light the Australian Tax Office had launched a wind-up action against Perth Glory Football Pty Ltd over an unpaid tax bill of $946,879.55.
The Jets scored the opening goal in the eighth minute when a lazy boot from Glory defender Luis Canga allowed the ball to bobble to an unmarked Aquilina at the far post.
Adam Taggart leads the Perth inquest into Newcastle's third goal. (Richard Wainwright/AAP PHOTOS)
Jets skipper Kosta Grozos limped off in the 19th minute, and his replacement Bayliss scored within two minutes of coming on when he nutmegged an opponent before curling a left-foot strike into the top corner.Â
Things went from bad to worse when Gibson floated between two Glory defenders to get his boot onto a whipped cross to make it 3-0.
Veteran Glory midfielder Brandon O'Neill was forced off with concussion just before half-time when he cannoned into Aleksandar Susjnar at full pace as they charged in from opposite directions to compete for a loose ball.
Susjnar's shoulder made contact with O'Neill's head, with the Glory midfielder seemingly knocked unconscious in the incident.
The Glory home fans booed loudly at the half-time whistle, and Zdrilic made three changes at the break, dragging Canga, Adam Bugarija and Khoa Ngo.Â
But it was to no avail, with the Jets scoring their fourth goal just 58 seconds after the restart when Gibson tapped in from point-blank range after Aquilina squared the ball across the goal face.
Glory striker Adam Taggart had some good chances to peg a goal back, but his shots were blocked, adding to the frustrations of the home fans, who booed even louder after the final whistle.Â
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