Sky Stadium, Wellington
Saturday, February 21st, 5pm
Written by Jonno Ross
Auckland FC will play their second game in four days ahead of this weekend’s massive derby fixture. After playing in Sydney and drawing 1-1 against Sydney FC, it’ll be straight off to Wellington for the team to prepare for the third and final derby of the season.
The lads earned a hard-fought point away in Sydney on Tuesday night. They’ll happily take the point. We were under the pump from the start, allowing Sydney FC into our final third, and more often than not, forcing Michael Woud into action, keeping the opposition side scoreless.
Our boys just couldn’t get a grip on the game for the first 30 minutes, but we had our chances. De Vries came close with a right-foot curling effort that saw his shot fizz past the top right corner. Randall and Cosgrove had a couple of chances. The second half saw Logan Rogerson subbed on for Marlee Francois, and he almost made an immediate impact when the ball came across the six-yard box, but Rogerson couldn’t time his back heel flick.
Sydney made the breakthrough in the 84th minute, and Auckland fans were wondering where the equalizer would come from. The boys rallied and never gave up – in the final minute of injury time, Girdwood-Reich crossed to Pijnaker, whose header was saved and parried by the Sydney FC shot stopper. The Sydney players looked to clear the ball, only to see the clearance rebound off the back of Alex Grant and into the back of the net. 1-1 it finished, much to the relief of AFC and their fans.
Woud was on fire and kept his side in it, with a total of 9 saves throughout the game. A strong contender for player of the match.
Speaking of unbeaten…it’s derby week! Auckland FC now focus on their second game in four days, against Wellington Phoenix, a side we’ve beaten five times in a row. The Wellington faithful are sick and tired of hearing the name ‘Auckland FC’, and will no doubt be fearing the phrase ‘six in a row’.
However, the Phoenix will feel that this is their best opportunity to finally get on the scoreboard. Sam Cosgrove is out through suspension, so Auckland doesn’t have a ‘real’ number 9. Phoenix striker Ifeanyi Eze is a threat to any defence, and with their latest signing, Sarpreet Singh, feeding him from the midfield, all of a sudden, the Phoenix look like a dangerous opponent.
Previous derbies have had a fun feel to them. Auckland fans have seemed comfortable and confident that we’ll get the three points with ease in the past. But this one has a different feel to it. The stakes are high for both teams – Auckland are chasing Newcastle Jets in first place, whilst the Phoenix, despite being third to bottom, are chasing a finals football playoff spot.
A win for Auckland would keep them in second, and if Newcastle lose to Macarthur, we could close the gap to just one point. A loss could see us drop to third if Sydney FC beats Brisbane Roar.
A win for the Phoenix could see them go from 10th to 7th, if results elsewhere go their way. A loss would make finals football slip from their fingers, and could see them drop to the foot of the table.
It’s Wellington Phoenix vs. Auckland FC. It’s the Yellow Fever vs. The Port. Bragging rights are on the line. The league is congested, and every result mixes the league table up. It’s Round 18 of 26, yet every game is a final for both sides. Will the Phoenix have something to finally celebrate, or will Auckland take the spoils AGAIN? Tune into Sky Sports 1 on Saturday from 4pm to find out. This is going to be huge.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Ifeanyi Eze is a player who can give the opposition defenders nightmares. He’s the Phoenix’s and the league’s joint top goalscorer on 8 goals, but aside from his goal-scoring abilities, his presence and power are enough to keep an eye out for. If he didn’t play for the Nix, he’d be one of my favourite players in the league. He is truly some player.
Sarpreet Singh is back for his second stint at the Phoenix. The player who caught the eye of Bayern Munich will look to control the game and feed his attackers. He’s majestic on the ball and can spot a pass before most players see it. As a neutral, he’s a joy to watch. The Phoenix fans will hope he pulls the strings on Saturday evening.
It’ll be interesting to see who Corica plays up front in the place of the suspended Sam Cosgrove. Will it be Guillermo May? Rogerson? Brook? Randall? Whoever it is, it’ll be interesting to see the dynamic of the team and how a new striker plays.
Michael Woud has played brilliantly in the last two games, since being called back into the number one spot. He seems to have grabbed his second chance with both hands. He and the fans will hope to see his performance from Tuesday night carry over to this week’s game in the capital.
