Auckland FC and Melbourne Victory played a goalless draw at Go Media Stadium. Despite the lack of goals, the fans were out in abundance and in full voice, keen to keep the party going.
Auckland FC started this New Year’s Day clash unchanged from the side that beat Central Coast so convincingly in Australia last Saturday. That meant Tommy Smith retained his place in the centre of defence with Sakai in his favoured right-back position.
The Black Knights started strongly, a string of corners resulting in early chances for de Vries and Pijnaker, the latter sporting a rather fresh fade. New Year, New Do.
Auckland were dominating possession save for brief periods when Victory was able to venture forward and remind the home team of their quality in attack.
After 20 minutes, the game began to settle down. Key battles played out in the middle of the park made for an interesting contest, with Brimmer particularly industrious against his former team.
At half time, the scores were level at 0-0, with Victory edging possession but Auckland the chances. The moment of the half was the Victory goalkeeper’s point-blank save from de Vires’ early header.
Auckland again started the half the better team, with a well-taken goal by May ruled out for offside and additional chances for de Vries and Verstraete.
As the game wore on, Melbourne looked increasingly happy to take the draw, happy to sit deep and let Auckland come at them. When Victory was in possession, Auckland did a good job of chasing them down, ensuring the tempo remained high.
After 74 minutes, coach Steve Corica decided on the double change of Rogerson and Randall on for Gillion and Moreno. Not long after, Mata replaced Brimmer in another attacking swap as Auckland pushed for a winner.
Auckland kept pushing, but to no avail. Out of nowhere, Melbourne nearly got a goal of their own, but captain Hiroki Sakai was there with a well-timed last-ditch tackle on the edge of the area.
These two teams have the joint-best defence in the league, having only conceded eight a piece, and that’s the way things remain. After three minutes of injury time, the ref blew up.
Auckland remains top of the league and goes into a busy period with six matches in the space of 32 days, including a trip to Perth on January 11. They then return to Go Media for a clash against Melbourne City on Saturday, January 18. The five o’clock kick-off will again feature the popular beach in the family fun zone.Tickets for that game can be purchased here.
Player of the Match: Jake Brimmer
