Melbourne City emerged from the jaws of defeat to salvage a late 2-2 draw with Western Sydney Wanderers and prevent Auckland FC from claiming the Isuzu UTE A-League Premiership for at least another week.
Kai Trewin converted an 86th-minute penalty as second-placed City rallied to overturn a two-goal deficit at CommBank Stadium – a result that delayed Auckland’s Premiership celebrations on Saturday night.
In-form Western Sydney appeared on track for victory after racing out to a 2-0 lead inside 13 minutes thanks to star Nicolas Milanovic’s ninth-minute opener and a Trewin own goal four minutes later.
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But Trewin bounced back with a double at the other end to keep City’s faint Premier’s Plate hopes alive – the defender pulled a goal back in the 36th minute before stepping up to score a spot-kick with four minutes of regulation remaining after Anthony Pantazopoulos fouled Medin Memeti.
There were wild scenes when substitute Marcus Antonsson thought he had won the game for the Wanderers in the 95th minute as he celebrated with the Wanderers fans but it was dramatically ruled out for offside.
City’s dramatic equaliser also left the visitors in the box seat for a top-two berth. As New Zealand’s Auckland are part of the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC), it means they are ineligible to compete in AFC club competition. With that mind mind, second place will secure Australia’s sole berth in next season’s AFC Champions League Elite.
There are only three points separating City in second and Western United in third position, while Western Sydney are four points back heading into the final two rounds of the regular campaign.
The Wanderers also extended their undefeated run to 10 games – matching their streak from the 2015-16 season.
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It was a thrilling match from the outset in Parramatta, where City actually started the better of the two sides with a couple of very good chances.
Yonatan Cohen’s defence-splitting pass released Max Caputo in the third minute but Lawrence Thomas was up the task with a fantastic save and the Wanderers goalkeeper was at it again three minutes later to brilliantly keep out Aziz Behich.
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Then, quick-fire goals from Wanderers blitzed City.
First, Milanovic’s moment of magic broke the deadlock in the ninth minute after the Western Sydney star brushed off Socceroo Behich before curling the ball beyond Patrick Beach.
Four minutes later, Milanovic wreaked havoc once more as he turned Kai Trewin and then brushed off Behich again before his shot deflected off Trewin and into the net.
City were never out of the contest in the end-to-end encounter and they managed to reduce the deficit in the 36th minute.
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Seconds after Thomas’ big save to keep out Caputo, Trewin rose highest to head home from the resulting corner.
City ended the first half with a flurry as they mounted serious pressure on a desperate and scrambling Western Sydney defence.
After a frantic opening period, it was much more tense in the second half, with proceedings in somewhat of a holding pattern as City pushed for an equaliser.
Milanovic nearly had his second of the game but Beach palmed away his goal-bound effort during the final 20 minutes before City’s Marco Tilio fizzed a powerful low effort agonisingly wide of the post.
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With time running out, Memeti came off the bench to earn a penalty for City and team-mate Trewin managed to sneak his spot-kick underneath Thomas.
