Auckland FC stunned as home semifinal loss to Melbourne Victory ends dream debut season
Sunday, 25 May 2025
At Go Media Stadium, Auckland: Melbourne Victory 2 (Zinedine Machach 55’, Bruno Fornaroli 60’) Auckland FC 0. HT: 0-0
Melbourne Victory win the semifinal tie 2-1 on aggregate and advance to the grand final
Auckland FC’s dream debut season in A-League Men ended in disappointment at Go Media Stadium on Saturday night, as they failed to even make it to the final hurdle and their coach was left seething about the officiating.
Melbourne Victory won 2-0 on the night in front of a 29,148-strong crowd to take out the home-and-away semifinal 2-1 on aggregate, bouncing back after losing 1-0 at home last weekend.
Victory will now play either Melbourne City in next Saturday’s grand final, after they beat Western United 4-1 on aggregate, while Auckland will have to settle for winning the Premiers’ Plate in their first season, after suffering just their second home defeat in 14 matches.
Zinedine Machach scored with a shot from 30m that took a deflection and spun away from a wrong-footed Alex Paulsen in the 55th minute, while Bruno Fornaoli slotted home Victory’s second just five minutes later, after being played in by Jordi Valadon.
Auckland coach Steve Corica was left fuming about a disallowed goal that would have made it 2-1 on the night – and 2-2 on aggregate – in the 69th minute.
Guillermo May’s cross from the byline on the left was judged – fairly, to these eyes – to have gone out before curling back in and being met by a Logan Rogerson header.
While Corica rallied about “a bad decision” by referee Alex King, linesman Kearney Robinson – who made the call on the field and had a better view than any of the broadcast angles – and video assistant Shaun Evans, his side’s lack of creativity at their home stadium was as big a factor in the result.
Auckland played from the beginning with the slender comfort of a one-goal lead, which would have been two had Neyder Moreno’s stoppage-time shot at AAMI Park last Saturday gone in instead of hitting both posts before landing safely in goalkeeper Jack Duncan’s arms.
The first half was largely uneventful, bar a goalmouth scramble after Duncan palmed a corner from Marlee François away and Guillermo May and Logan Rogerson both couldn’t convert follow-up shots.
Auckland goalkeeper Alex Paulsen reacted harshly to a foul on François by Zinedine Machach, running in from 20m away and sparking a coming together of 19 of the 22 players on the field, earning a yellow card in the process.
Among Corica’s frustrations with the officiating later was the fact that Machach wasn’t shown one for his part in the same incident.
Machach and Fornaroli’s one-two punch within the space of five minutes left Auckland with half an hour – plus stoppage time, of which there was almost 10 minutes – to try to save their season.
After Rogerson’s goal was ruled out, May hit the side-netting. Neyder got to the byline then saw his cutback pinball off two defenders into Victory goalkeeper Jack Duncan’s arms. He also sent a header wide – a missed chance that fooled the hopeful crowd.
Auckland’s best chance in stoppage time came when Duncan spilled the ball after being taken out by his own defender, Lachlan Jackson. It fell to centre back Nando Pijnaker who had the goal at his mercy, but was left frustrated when Reno Piscopo cleared his shot off the line.
While they threatened from set pieces, Auckland created very little in open play. Their biggest attacking threat, left back Francis de Vries, barely got a cross in, apart from at corners. It has been a theme of their play all season and will be a major work-on heading into season two.
“They changed their system,” Corica said afterwards as he explained his side’s sluggish start. “We weren't expecting that. I think that took us a little bit of time to get used to and then when we did, I thought we got back into the game.
“They didn't really create a lot either, until the goal went in, and that was a deflection as well. Alex has gone one way and it has deflected in, and that's all they really needed to get back into the game and momentum went their way.
“The second goal, we switched off a little bit. We should have narrowed off and put more pressure on the ball carrier.”
For Victory, it was a second semifinal win on New Zealand soil in as many years, after they beat the Wellington Phoenix 2-1 in extra time after a 0-0 draw at their AAMI Park home in the 2023-24 season, where they went on to lose to the Central Coast Mariners in the grand final.
Coach Arthur Diles was an assistant back then and said there was no secret to Victory’s ability to get the job done away from home.
“We just plan and prepare and we work hard.
“You're expected to play in these matches and expected to be there come the end of the season. That's the club that we are, and that's the expectation that the club has – the board, the owners, the fans.
“We've got to do our bit every day to work really hard to try and achieve that for our club. We've got one more game to go in another grand final, which is great for the club, and now we've got to work even harder.”