Leichhardt Oval, Sydney
Tuesday, February 17th, 9pm NZT
Written by Jonno Ross
After a hard-fought, deserved win against Sydney FC last weekend, Auckland FC head to Sydney for the reverse fixture. It’s the catch-up game from Round 10, when the pitch at Leichhardt Oval was deemed to be unplayable.
Hopefully, after last weekend’s performance, the rut we were in is now behind us. Or as Steve said in the post-match press conference, “new month, that’s why, January is never good for us”.
And what a win it was. Sydney FC at home seemed to be a scary task for our boys, after winning once this year, and giving away cheap goals to either draw or lose their games. But the lads in black and blue stepped up big time, with undoubtedly their best performance of the season.
The score line flattered the visitors. Auckland dominated the game from start to finish, and Sydney were lucky not to finish the match with just a 1-0 defeat – the deficit could have been 3 or 4 for Auckland.
Sam Cosgrove opened the scoring in the 20th minute with a classic poacher’s goal. From there, Auckland had many chances to put the game to bed – notably, May coming close when he hit the post, and Cosgrove with a chance inside the six-yard box, which was saved brilliantly by Sydney’s keeper. He kept Sydney in the game with a handful of top saves.
He wasn’t the only keeper on form – Michael Woud was back between the sticks for AFC, and he had a great performance, pulling off one or two saves that stopped Sydney FC from getting a foot in the door. It was a performance that earned him player of the match, but the award could have gone to any of our players on the day. Not one player had a bad game.
It was the performance that Auckland fans had been crying out for in recent times. The bar has been set, after last week’s performance, and we can’t afford to drop standards.
We still sit second in the league, hot on the Newcastle Jets’ tails and waiting for them to slip up so we can take the top spot again. In saying that, the teams below us are waiting for us to slip up, so winning is a must – this season is shaping up to be one of the closest competitions in the history of the A-League.
Sam Cosgrove is finding his feet and appears have finally accustomed to the league. He’s scored three goals in his last five games and is his side’s leading goal scorer with seven goals to his name. He’s also the league’s joint top scorer alongside Newcastle Jets forward, Lachlan Rose. Cosgrove will look to add to that tally, to help his side win back-to-back games for the first time since mid December.
The league keeps rolling, and Auckland FC must roll with it. Whilst it’s been great for the players to have a ten-day break, they need to focus on what’s in front of them. Another massive game awaits on Tuesday against Sydney FC, and then just four days later is the highly anticipated third Kiwi derby of the season. One step at a time, though, we must always focus on the game in front of us.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Marlee François had his best game in blue and black last weekend. Tearing up and down the wing, terrorising opposition defenders with his pace and footwork, as well as creating chances for his teammates. Sydney would have taken note of the danger man, but can they stop him this time around?
Victor Campuzano was a danger to us last weekend. He and Quintal led Sydney FC’s threatening counterattacks, only to be thwarted by our resilient defence. These players can’t be given too much time on the ball. If given the opportunity, Campuzano will take it with open arms
