Former Socceroos defender Kevin Muscat scored a late penalty goal for Melbourne Victory to salvage a 2-2 draw with Perth Glory in their A-League match in front of a sellout crowd of almost 18,000 at Olympic Park.

The Victory deserved to gain at least a point from their first home game after doing most of the attacking but it looked unlikely with the Glory ahead 2-1 until Muscat's 85th minute strike.

He scored with an unspectacular low, firm shot to the right, after Perth defender Ante Kovacevic gave away the penalty when he took out the legs of Victory youngster Carl Recchia.

Earlier in the second half, veteran Perth striker Bobby Despotovski had given his side the lead with the goal of the night in the 56th minute.

After receiving a clever head-on from former English Premier League player Brian Deane, Despotovski weaved past two defenders before ramming home the right-footer.

The match was dominated by the home side in the first half, with former Austrian international Richard Kitzbichler giving Victory the lead in the 11th minute.

A free kick from Kristian Sarkies was limply headed away by Perth defender Jamie Harnwell, with Kitzbichler cracking the ball home from the top of the penalty box.

Victory was in complete control for most of the half, dominating possession and having regular scoring chances.

They included a low right-foot shot from Daniel Allsopp in the 18th minute, which was on target, but Glory keeper Jason Petkovic dived to his left and just managed to parry the ball away for a corner kick.

But a bad error from Victory keeper Eugene Galekovic cost his side a levelling goal just five minutes from half-time.

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