Auckland FC have booked their spot against Adelaide United in the Isuzu UTE A-League Semi-Finals after a gritty penalty shootout win over Melbourne City on Saturday afternoon.
Despite dominating possession in the opening half, it was Melbourne City that looked like the more threatening side with their chances in front of goal.
With the seconds ticking away in the first half, Auckland opened the scoring with a sensational header from Guillermo May.
The Uruguayan burst onto a pinpoint cross from Jesse Randall and neatly headed his chance past Patrick Beach in goals for City.
City kept pushing as the second half wore on, with their best chance to get back into the contest coming when Max Caputo saw an effort drift just wide of the far post.
Despite feeling the pressure in defence, skipper Hiroki Sakai was instrumental in pushing Auckland forward and created a handful of promising attacking chances.
After being on the back foot in the latter stages of the second half, Auckland broke away and found a perfect chance to put the tie away.
A sensational solo run from Cameron Howieson landed the Auckland midfielder one-on-one with Beach, but the shot was easily pushed away from the City glovesman.
Veteran striker Andrew Nabbout had a golden chance to level the game in injury time, but ultimately forced his shot straight into the arms of Michael Woud.
Woud came in clutch moments later, pulling off a world-class save to deny Matthew Leckie from the edge of the box.
With just seconds remaining in regulation, Medin Memeti netted one of the most memorable goals in A-Leagues Finals history.
A slick delivery from Aziz Behich set it up, and the City substitute made no mistake from close range, sparking wild celebrations from the visiting side.
The goal in the dying stages of the clash sent the game to extra time, leaving the fans with a grandstand final 30 minutes and the potential for penalties.
Both sides traded blows in extra time and came within inches of a crucial second goal.
Nabbout’s cross-goal effort scraped past the empty back stick, whilst Sakai had a similar fate with his chance on the other side of the ball.
With neither side able to find the back of the net in extra time, the team going through to the Semi-Finals was going to be determined by spot kicks.
After 12 penalties from both sides combined, no one looked like missing with some sensational strikes from the spot.
Nathaniel Atkinson was the unfortunate first player to miss a penalty with City’s 7th opportunity, leaving it to Dan Hall to win the game for Auckland.
Hall, who has never scored a goal in the A-Leagues, stepped up when his side needed him the most and slotted Auckland’s seventh penalty to send them through to a Semi-Final clash with Adelaide United.
