Coach Patrick Kisnorbo is adamant there is plenty more to come from Melbourne Victory after his charges claimed a comfortable, if blunt, 2-0 win over Perth to reclaim second place on the A-League Men table.
The Victory dominated from the outset and arguably should have scored more than Zinedine Machach's cracking opener in the seventh minute and Adama Traore's goal in the 59th.
Jason Geria should have made it 3-0 in the 90th minute but inexplicably blasted a back-post tap-in over the bar.
"You can look at it two ways negatively in terms of, OK, we should be scoring more or positively where we are creating those moments," Kisnorbo said.
"So I look at it in a positive way where we are creating those moments.
"But again, we just need to get better in finishing."
Musician Jack White, former frontman of The White Stripes, ex-Victory coach Kevin Muscat and Socceroos assistant Hayden Foxe were among those in the crowd as the home side dictated proceedings at AAMI Park on Sunday.
"We played a very good team today and they were clearly better than us," Glory coach David Zdrilic said.
The hosts were on the front foot from the outset and took the lead when Machach received the ball in midfield, burst forward, and ripped a shot into the bottom corner.
Brendan Hamill, Nikos Vergos and Daniel Arzani all had chances to double the Victory's lead as Melbourne had 15 shots to Perth's zero in the opening half but failed to capitalise on their dominance.
Kisnorbo's men kept the foot down after halftime, then doubled their lead.
Vergos brilliantly slipped through Traore, who coolly buried a first-time finish past Cameron Cook.
Perth skipper Adam Taggart had the ball in the back of the net in the 72nd minute but was ruled offside.
Kisnorbo turned to Bruno Fornaroli and Jing Reec off the bench for Vergos and Arzani in the 76th minute - and had an animated chat with Arzani as he left the pitch.
"One of the main things with Daniel is he gets into some great positions and sometimes I think he just needs to trust himself," Kisnorbo said.
"Sometimes he does too much and we know he's very technically good.
"But I think he needs to trust himself in areas of the pitch, where maybe he can pass quicker or even get the shot off."
Reec forced Cook to turn a venomous strike onto the bar in the 79th minute before Geria missed a sitter and lay on his back laughing at himself in despair.
Two points behind leaders Auckland FC, the Victory now have the bye and return to action in the Christmas derby against Melbourne City on December 21, while winless and 11th-placed Perth host Newcastle next Saturday.
