Auckland wins a thriller against Western Sydney Wanderers

Auckland FC has climbed to the top of the A-League table with a stunning 95th minute winner against the Western Sydney Wanderers in a game full of opportunities.

Auckland FC players celebrate their win. Photo: Brendon Thorne/Getty Images.

A stoppage-time goal from Auckland substitute Neyder Moreno has broken the hearts of the Western Sydney Wanderers faithful as the Black Knights emerged 1-0 victors at CommBank Stadium.

Both teams looked set to share the spoils on Sunday afternoon as the game entered the fifth and final minute of injury time.

However, with the clock ticking down, Wanderers defender Dean Pelekanos surrendered possession 30 metres out from his goal.

The ball was regathered by Auckland’s Jonty Bidois, who linked up with Cameron Howieson on the edge of the box.

Howieson threaded a short ball to Moreno, who evaded a desperate tackle from Anthony Pantazopoulos before firing the match-winner past Wanderers keeper Lawrence Thomas.

Until that point, it had been a frustrating afternoon of missed chances. With 37 shots across the game, there were numerous opportunities to score during an open second half. However, both side’s efforts in front of goal left a lot to be desired.

This was best exemplified by a terrible miss from Auckland attacker Logan Rogerson, who pushed an incredibly straightforward shot into the side netting after Thomas deflected Guillermo May’s initial attempt straight into the New Zealand international’s feet after 57 minutes.

It was a frustrating afternoon for the Wanderers. (Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images)

A minute earlier, Western Sydney’s Nicolas Milanovic blew a similarly promising chance when he fired a tame shot directly at Auckland keeper Alex Paulsen after being put into acres of space by Zac Sapsford’s incisive pass.

In reality, Auckland were deserved winners. With May pulling the strings, the Black Knights had the better of the play and would have been desperately unlucky to walk away without the three competition points.

With star winger Brandon Borrello out with a hamstring injury, the Wanderers seemed to lack cohesiveness in attack, while Paulsen easily saved most of their best efforts on goal.

The result sees Steve Corica’s side move to the top of the A-League Men’s table with 30 points, while Western Sydney sits eighth with 18 - four points adrift of the sixth-placed Melbourne Victory.

Macarthur lift to third after win over Melbourne City

They may not be the most popular side in Sydney, but the Macarthur Bulls are leading the charge for the harbour city after moving to third on the A-League Men’s ladder with a 1-0 win over Melbourne City at Campbelltown Stadium.

Despite winning the Australia Cup earlier this season, the Bulls have failed to attract much fanfare relative to neighbours Sydney FC and the Western Sydney Wanderers. However, this appears to suit Mile Sterjovski’s men, who now sit entrenched in the top six - unlike their more illustrious neighbours.

As usual, winger Jed Drew played a significant role in the Bulls’ victory, with his run down the right flank helping set up the winning goal for Valère Germain after 62 minutes. It was an opportune assist for the 21-year-old who, after a quiet opening hour, was set to be replaced by coach Sterjovski.

Valere Germain of the Bulls (L) celebrates scoring a goal with Jed Drew. Photo: Mark Evans/Getty Images.

Fortunately for the home side, the decision was delayed, but not before the ground announcer prematurely announced Drew’s departure from the match.

BULLS OVERCOME SLUGGISH START

Before Germain’s goal, it had been a pretty underwhelming affair - particularly during the first half, when both sides failed to make anything of their minimal chances. The second half started brightly, with both teams coming close immediately after the interval.

Germain was unlucky not to score in the 48th minute when his headed shot off a Marin Jakoliš corner was saved by City goalkeeper Patrick Beach from point-blank range. Likewise, City utility Harry Politidis came close when his volleyed effort skimmed the Macarthur net two minutes later.

Germain’s goal ultimately came off a nice piece of transitional play from the Bulls. With City on the attack, defender Luke Brattan intercepted a poor pass from Lawrence Wong. Brattan passed to Germain, whose delicate through ball released Drew down the touchline.

Mikey Ghossaini of Melbourne City and Luke Brattan of the Bulls compete for the ball. Photo: Mark Evans/Getty Images.

After evading Samuel Souprayen, Drew returned the ball to Germain, who had raced 50 metres to put himself in the perfect position to score. It was the Frenchman’s 27th goal for the Bulls, making him the club’s all-time leading goal scorer.

“It was a difficult game . . . the first half was bad from us,” Germain told Paramount +.

“We let them have the ball and didn’t press.

“In the second half, we pressed a little bit more and we had some good opportunities to score and finally we scored.

“I don’t know if we deserve the three points but it’s good to win at home.”

The win was the Bulls’ first victory at Campbelltown since they beat Perth 6-1 back in October.

CITY’S INJURY WOES CONTINUE

Melbourne City has had a disastrous season with soft tissue injuries and this continued on Saturday night with defender Kai Trewin suffering what appeared to be a groin issue after less than three minutes of play. On the bright side, despite losing their last two matches, City remains in the top four on 24 points – although coach Aurelio Vidmar says their attack needs to improve.

“Tonight, we lost it more than they won it,” Vidmar said.

“We had better chances in the first half than we did in the second.

“We had a fair bit of the ball in the second half . . . without doing too much in the front third.

“We’re not clinical enough at this stage.”

Debutant seals draw for Perth in drama-filled final moments

Perth debutant Lachlan Wales has scored a late equaliser as the Glory held Newcastle Jets to a 2-2 draw at McDonald Jones Stadium on Saturday.

Trailing 2-1 after Clayton Taylor put the Jets in front in the 78th minute, Wales came off the bench and had an instant impact for his new side.

Newcastle dominated early and it was Eli Adams who put the home side in front in the 11th minute, his third of the season.

Lachlan Wales of Perth Glory competes for the ball with Matthew Scarcella of the Jets. Photo: Scott Gardiner/Getty Images.

It was part of a scintillating period for Adams who also hit the post and crossbar before Adam Taggart scored from the penalty spot for Perth following a handball in the box from a Jets defender.

WATCH: Controversial penalty call overshadows stalemate

A controversial decision to not give a second-half penalty to Wellington has overshadowed the Phoenix’s frustrating 0-0 draw with Central Coast Mariners.

A four-minute VAR review resulted in the decision to not award a spot kick to Phoenix’s Kazuki Nagasawa who looked to be fouled by Mariners player Diesel Herrington in the 64th minute of Saturday’s clash at Apollo Projects Stadium.

This was not given as a penalty 😳

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Incredibly, Nagasawa was at the centre of another penalty shout in the first half.

The draw has left Wellington in ninth position on the A-League ladder and Central Coast in 10th.

Diesel Herrington of the Central Coast Mariners and Kazuki Nagasawa of the Wellington Phoenix. Photo: Joe Allison/Getty Images.

Victory secure first win under Diles

Melbourne Victory have moved back into the A-League Men top six after snapping their six-game winless run with a 2-0 defeat of Sydney FC at AAMI Park on Friday night.

The hosts took the lead in the 24th minute when Ryan Teague’s corner from the left found Nikos Vergos whose powerful rising header from seven yards out rammed into the underside of the crossbar and into the net, giving Sydney goalkeeper Harrison Devenish-Meares no chance. Vergos was uncontested in his attempt in what was a total breakdown of Sydney’s defence.

And Bruno Fornaroli sealed the result in the 90th minute when he accepted a massive Kasey Bos hoof from deep inside his own half, burnt Sydney defenders Alexandar Popovic and Joel King, before rounding Devenish-Meares and guiding it home from a sharp angle on the byline.

The win was Melbourne’s first since former coach Patrick Kisnorbo departed abruptly last month, and finally handed successor Arthur Diles his first success, releasing the pressure on the interim boss who is rumoured to have signed an 18-month contract with the club.

The Sky Blues have now lost back-to-back matches and could find themselves as low as eighth by the end of the weekend.

SYDNEY DON’T CAPITALISE

After making a sluggish start, Sydney actually enjoyed the run of play for majority of the contest, and finished with 64 per cent possession, including 73 per cent in the second half.

But the visitors failed to meaningfully threaten star Victory goalkeeper Mitch Langerak who played his first game back with the club after 15 years away in the German, Spanish and Japanese leagues.

Despite Sydney’s domination of the ball, Victory had more shots on goal (11-8), touches in opposition box (19-16) and the lion’s share of shots on target (5-1).

Victory players celebrate the win with fans. Photo: Jonathan DiMaggio/Getty Images

HOSTS START STRONGLY

Victory made a very bright start and in the second minute, Vergos found Nishan Velupillay who danced around Zac De Jesus but his shot from 12 yards was deflected by Rhyan Grant and out for a corner. Four minutes later, Velupillay was denied again when his shot from 15 yards was blocked by De Jesus.

In the 15th minute, Melbourne’s Zinedine Machach released Santos who perfectly timed his run and found himself in a one-on-one with Devenish-Meares. But instead of electing to chip it, Santos opted for a regulation strike and Devenish-Meares was up to the task after making himself big.

Eleven minutes after taking the lead, Jordi Valadon came close to putting the hosts 2-0 up when his curling attempt from 25 yards out forced Devenish-Meares to dive to his left in order to stop it.

SYDNEY GOAL DENIED

Sydney momentarily thought they took the lead in the eighth minute when Adrian Segecic crossed it beautifully to Patryk Klimala who tapped it home from a few yards out, but it didn’t count because Segecic strayed offside in the lead-up.

VISITORS’ FEW BRIGHT SPARKS

Langerak had his first real test in the 39th minute when Klimala moved past Brendan Hamill with strength but his attempt from 12 yards out was stopped well by returning Victory goalie. Hamill then sprinted to the byline to deny Klimala another attempt from point-blank range while the net was unguarded.

In the 52nd minute, Segecic had Joshua Rawlins on the back foot however his shot from a sharp angle 16 yards out was saved by Langerak with minimum fuss.

Anas Ouahim’s header 18 minutes later found Joe Lolley, but the latter’s shot from eight yards out was a shocker and flew well over the crossbar, and in the 76th minute, Jordan Courtney-Perkins’ cross from the left connected with Lolley’s head, but the shot from 12 yards out drifted just wide of the right post.

Originally published as Auckland wins a thriller against Western Sydney Wanderers