Adelaide United has surged into fourth spot on the table after holding on for an entertaining 0-0 draw against Perth Glory at Members Equity Stadium on Sunday.
The Glory enjoyed a glut of opportunities throughout the match but failed to produce the finishing touch, with Nikolai Topor-Stanley's 49th minute header, which struck the crossbar, the closest Perth came to scoring a goal.
But Adelaide, whose defence was under siege from the word go, also had chances to win the game, with Nathan Burns' wayward strike from point-blank range at the far post sure to haunt the United striker.
The point - and a superior goal difference - was enough for United to leapfrog Queensland, Sydney and Wellington into fourth position, although all four teams are tied on eight points apiece.
The Glory, meanwhile, remain anchored to the bottom of the table with just four points to its name and a run of 14 games without a win in the league.
Adelaide was forced to sit back and defend in the opening half as the Glory threw everything but the kitchen sink at the contest.
The visitors struggled for fluency and were lucky to survive a goal-mouth scramble in the 25th minute when Leo Bertos threaded through a dangerous pass from the edge of the box.
Just four minutes later Adelaide were again left biting their fingernails when a Jordan Simpson cross found an unattended Bertos in the box, but the midfielder shot high.
Giant Adelaide defender Robert Cornthwaite sprayed a free header in the 35th minute in what was the visitors' best chance of the opening half, while both Topor-Stanley and Bertos wasted similar opportunities up the other end.
Perth was unlucky not to hit the lead four minutes after the restart when Topor-Stanley headed a wayward Bertos strike into the underside of the crossbar, with the ball rebounding back into play to the dismay of the 6252 fans.
Adelaide had the ball in the back of the net in the 57th minute but it was disallowed by referee Peter Green due to a blatant foul on Glory keeper Tando Velaphi, who was taken out while flying for a long ball.
The intensity from both sides was fantastic as the pace of the game lifted and Perth skipper Simon Colosimo made a match-saving tackle on Bruce Djite in the box after a defensive lapse by Jamie Coyne.
Burns should have put Adelaide ahead in the 70th minute when Travis Dodd's cross found him completely unmarked at the far post, but the striker's touch let him down as his hesitant strike from just six yards out and with only the keeper to beat stumbled wide of the target.
Adelaide keeper Daniel Beltrame did well to keep out a fantastic volley from James Robinson in the 76th minute, while Bertos and 75th-minute substitute Jamie Harnwell also went close.
The closing 10 minutes of the match was played at break-neck speed but, despite a number of openings, neither side was able to capitalise with the Glory forced to settle for its fourth scoreless draw of the season.
Perth 0
Adelaide 0
Crowd: 6252 @ Members Equity Stadium