Auckland FC and Melbourne Victory will lock horns once again on Saturday night as they look to secure their spot in the Isuzu UTE A-League Grand Final. aleagues.com.au takes a look at what could be the deciding factors for both sides heading into the mouthwatering match-up at Go Media Stadium.
Having already clinched the Premiers Plate in their inaugural season, Auckland FC will now aim to take an enormous leap towards winning the Isuzu UTE A-League Championship.
Leading Melbourne Victory 1-0 from the first leg at AAMI Park last weekend, Steve Corica’s side will feel as though they have their opponents right where they want them heading into Saturday night’s blockbuster clash in the City of Sails.
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Logan Rogerson’s 64th minute header proved to be the difference between the two sides in the first leg but it could have been oh so different for the Black Knights had winger Neyder Moreno’s last-gasp effort found the back of the net instead of hitting both posts.
However, whilst a 1-0 lead can quickly evaporate in football Auckland will be very confident of keeping their opponents at bay on home soil given they were able to prevent Arthur Diles’ side from having a single shot on target in Melbourne.
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Furthermore, Auckland have now kept three clean sheets against Victory in their three meetings this season having recorded a goalless draw followed by respective 2-0 and 1-0 wins meaning the Black Knights certainly have certainly had the measure of their opponents.
“An exceptional performance away from home, exactly what we wanted to come home with – the lead,” said Corica when speaking to journalists this week.
“We defended really well. They didn’t have any shots on target, so that’s really pleasing for me, but we got to do much the same. It’s only halfway really.
“Obviously, in front of our massive crowd, a full House, 30,000 we want to really put on a nice show for them and get to a final which they deserve.”
But whilst the home side are certainly comfortable when it comes to defending (Auckland FC finished the regular season with the second-best defensive record) Corica says his side will have to be on their toes when it comes to a Victory side that will surely look to change things up in a bid to finally breach their defence.
“Defensively, you know, we’ll keep continuing work on what we did in the first game – I think it worked well.
“If they come up with something different, well then we’re going to have to adjust, because we don’t really know if they will.
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“I think we can be better with the ball. There were times that we could exploit the space in behind the back four and I think we missed opportunities.
“So if we can keep the ball a little bit better and make them runs in behind, I think we can do a really good job.”
For Melbourne Victory, preparations for the second leg in Auckland will have been rocked by the fact they now have a huge gaping hole in the middle of their defence.
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Already without skipper Roderick Miranda for the first leg after the Portuguese suffered a leg injury in training the day before, his replacement for the night, Brendan Hamill, then suffered a season-ending injury during the 1-0 defeat at AAMI Park.
Now ruled out for a lengthy period of time after it was confirmed Hamill ruptured his Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) in the loss, head coach Diles will be hoping Miranda is fit and ready to return for the must-win match.
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The good news though is that Miranda has been back in training ahead of Saturday’s clash in New Zealand.
“Roddy trained today,” head coach Diles said on Thursday afternoon when asked about the status of his captain.
“He looked okay today, so let’s hope that tomorrow he pulls through okay and he’s good enough to travel with the team. We’ll know more tomorrow morning.”
Having to re-jig his defence following the injury to Hamill, Diles brought on Josh Rawlins to fill the void alongside Lachlan Jackson and it’s likely Rawlins will be the player deployed in central defence should Miranda not make a recovery from his injury.
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After the game left back Kasey Bos was seen leaving AAMI Park on crutches putting him potentially in doubt for the second leg while first-choice goalkeeper Mitch Langerak is racing the clock to return from a foot injury.
Whilst those defensive issues may have Victory fans feeling slightly blue heading into the second leg, the good news is they still have a plethora of attacking talent at their disposal capable of causing any team problems.
With Daniel Arzani, Nishan Velupillay, Zinedine Machach and Nikos Vergos making up their front four Victory will back themselves to cause the Black Knights’ defence issues at Go Media Stadium, even if they didn’t manage to do so on home soil.
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Whilst they may have finished the regular season as the second-lowest scoring side in the top six with 44 goals, Melbourne Victory finished third for ‘Big Chances Created’ meaning they’re certainly getting in the right areas and when it clicks, they often win.
The key to a Victory win therefore is likely to lie at the feet of either Arzani or Velupillay.
Pinpointed as the dangermen heading into the first leg, both men were well contained by a fantastic defensive effort from the likes of Hiroki Sakai, Francis De Vries and Louis Verstraete.
“The one thing I think you can almost guarantee is that you can’t see Auckland conceding more than one or two goals at the most,” said former Socceroo Tommy Oar when speaking on Total A-Leagues.
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“So if you think of it like that, if Auckland score one or two, they’ve won. That’s the kind of the way I’m thinking.
“So victory have to be careful not to get too frustrated at the not creating enough chances in the first leg, and not send too many numbers forward and be too ambitious in their game for them.
“Because on one hand, even though they need to score, they can quickly lose this tie if they concede early. So yeah, I think it’s a really interesting one. I think Auckland has all the cards, and I think they’re definitely heavy favourites going into it.
“But you said it, you can never count out Melbourne Victory.”
Furthermore, should Bruno Fornaroli get on the field this weekend then the Uruguayan veteran is likely to make his last appearance for the club given his contract is coming to an end this season.
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