Auckland FC semifinals: Black Knights to face Melbourne Victory in A-League playoffs

Auckland FC will square off against the Melbourne Victory in a home-and-away semifinal series for a spot in the A-League men’s grand final.

The Victory upset the Western Sydney Wanderers, who were unbeaten in 14 matches, 2-1 in Saturday’s elimination final to earn the right to meet the Black Knights, who finished top of the table to claim the Premiers Plate in their inaugural season.

The first leg will take place at Melbourne’s AAMI Park next Saturday, May 17 at 9.35pm before the second leg at Mt Smart Stadium the following Saturday, May 24, at 6pm.

Auckland have had the better of their two regular-season meetings with the Victory, playing out a goalless draw on New Year’s Day, before claiming a 2-0 win in Melbourne last month, thanks to goals from Louis Verstraete and Guillermo May.

Victory boss Arthur Diles knows they will have to be at their best to beat Auckland.

“They won the league, deservedly, but now it’s finals football,” Diles said.

“There’s no one we fear in this competition. We know we’re a very good team with great players. So are Auckland and so are the Wanderers.”

The Victory were beaten in last year’s grand final by the Central Coast Mariners and eliminated the Wellington Phoenix en route to the title decider.

It has also been confirmed that around 2700 seats will be added to the north end of Mt Smart Stadium for the semifinal. A further 800 seats will be added, should Auckland qualify for the final on May 31.

The other semifinal sees Melbourne City take on Western United.

Ben Francis is an Auckland-based reporter for the New Zealand Herald who covers breaking sports news.