Mission accomplished! Victory STUN Premiers Auckland FC to book their spot in the Grand Final

Auckland FC v Melbourne Victory - Shark Highlights | Isuzu UTE A-League 2024-25 | Semi-Final Leg Two

Melbourne Victory have stunned Premiership winners Auckland FC, defeating the Black Knights 2-0 in the second leg of the Semi-Final tie at Go Media Stadium to book their spot in the Isuzu UTE A-League Grand Final care of a 2-1 aggregate win.

Played in front of a raucous atmosphere at Go Media Stadium, Victory stunned the home crowd in the 55th minute as midfielder Zinedine Machach’s deflected low drive nestled into the back of the net to make it 1-0 on the night and 1-1 on aggregate.

VISIT THE ISUZU UTE A-LEAGUE FINALS SERIES HUB

Five minutes later the away side made it 2-0 as Bruno Fornaroli rounded off a brilliant team move to slot the ball beyond Paulsen from inside the box to completely turn the tie on it’s head.

The home side threw the kitchen sink at Victory in the final stages of the game and defender Pijnaker had an effort cleared off the line in the dying seconds but Victory held on to qualify for the Grand Final for the second consecutive season.

For Auckland FC, Steve Corica’s side suffer heartbreak in their quest to win the Premiership/Championship double in their first season in existence in front of a record domestic crowd of 29,148.

Victory head coach Arthur Diles looked to spring a surprise at Go Media Stadium as he made four changes to the team which lost 1-0 last week and his side started well.

Switched to the right hand side of the attack, Nishan Velupillay was played in behind the Black Knights’ defence and produced a dangerous ball into the box that required some excellent last-ditch defending from Dan Hall to deny Fornaroli a sight of goal.

The away side then had two more looks at goal before the 10-minute mark but neither winger Clarismario Santos or Velupillay did enough to worry Auckland keeper Alex Paulsen.

Having stemmed the early Victory onslaught Auckland then began to find their footing in the game as midfield enforcer Louis Verstraete saw his acrobatic effort from inside the box comfortably saved by Jack Duncan.

To the delight of the crowd, Victory winger Daniel Arzani was then booked for breaking up an Auckland attack and the home fans certainly let him know how they felt following his comments in the aftermath of last weekend’s semi-final first leg.

A constant threat at set-pieces, Auckland had their first real sight of goal in the 25th minute and it came from a devilish curling corner from winger Marlee Francois that saw Victory keeper Duncan claw the ball out from under his crossbar before the defence eventually cleared their lines.

WONDERKID WATCH: 16-goal teen tearing up NSW as outrageous form continues with 4-minute blitz
DEEP DIVE: Five key stats highlight ‘exceptional’ City star’s elite quality
‘WE’LL SEE IT OVER THE NEXT MONTH’: Coach’s exciting transfer prediction as academy stars shine
RODGERS, ARE YOU WATCHING? Socceroo makes Celtic point after finding his ‘missing piece’

As the clock ticked into the 36th minute, Victory had now gone five hours without scoring a goal against the Black Knights, but they would have done so were it not for another magnificent block from Hall as he flung himself in front of a Jordi Valadon effort from inside the box.

Tensions were simmering and things boiled over on the approach to half-time as goalkeeper Paulsen sprinted out of his box to confront midfielder Zinedine Machach for a late challenge on Francois which then prompted an all-in melee and resulted in a yellow card for Paulsen.

Worryingly for the away side though, Victory forward Velupillay lay prone on the turf whilst the all-in was going on and while he then tried to play on for the final minutes of the half he was unable to do so as he limped off with what looked to be an achilles issue.

VISIT THE ISUZU UTE A-LEAGUE FINALS SERIES HUB

READ MORE: Injury blow for Victory star in Semi-Final: ‘Not good news for Victory and their Socceroo’

However, whilst Velupillay watched on from the bench on crutches his side recovered from the injury blow to stun the home crowd in the 54th minute.

Collecting the ball midway inside Auckland territory powerful midfielder Machach barrelled towards the Black Knights’ box and unleashed a low effort which took a wicked deflection off defender Pijnaker before nestling into the back of Paulsen’s net.

And before Auckland had a chance to recover, they found themselves 2-0 down.

Lurking on the shoulder of the last defender, Fornaroli jumped back onside just in time before receiving a perfectly threaded through ball from Valadon and the experienced campaigner then did the rest; slamming the ball beyond Paulsen to make it 2-0 on the night and 2-1 to Victory on aggregate.

VISIT THE ISUZU UTE A-LEAGUE FINALS SERIES HUB

Now desperately chasing an equaliser Go Media Stadium exploded in the 69th minute as Logan Rogerson headed the ball into the back of the net but the joy was short-lived as May’s cross had seemingly gone out of play before it was finished by his teammate.

Now throwing everything forward in search of an equaliser the home fans were on their feet in the 90th minute as substitute Neyder Moreno leapt highest inside the box but his header flew wide of the target as the game entered seven minutes of injury time.

With time seemingly up Auckland threw one last ball into the box and it oh-so-nearly worked as Duncan came for a cross, made a hash of his clearance enabling Pijnaker to hook the ball towards the empty net but there was defender Josh Rawlins to clear off the line before the full-time whistle sounded.