Auckland City 1
Waitakere United 0
A gutsy Auckland City, a player short for the last 70 minutes after inspirational captain Ivan Vicelich was sent off, and reduced to nine for the last quarter-hour, claimed the scalp they desperately wanted with a richly deserved 1-0 win over old rivals Waitakere United at Fred Taylor Park yesterday.
United also lost a player in that late scuffle but by then City were in charge and in no mood to give anything back.
It was a first ASB Premiership loss for Waitakere and opens the door for second-placed Team Wellington (five points back and meeting Waitakere in Wellington on Saturday) and Auckland City, who have closed the margin to six points in third place.
City co-coach Ramon Tribulietx was overjoyed with the win but more, he said, for the way it was achieved.
"The good thing was the way we won. The 20 players in our squad all played their part," said Tribulietx, who said their Saturday morning training session had been crucial.
"We worked on how we were going to play. We applied that."
Asked how difficult it had been to readjust when Vicelich was red-carded, he said they just restructured and switched to a 4-4-1 formation.
"We knew it was going to be tough but I want to congratulate the players for what they did."
On the other hand, the home side struggled to adjust to the lopsided position they found themselves in.
Forced to drop Stu Kelly from the midfield to allow substitute Sam Campbell to slip into Vicelich's central defensive role, City found few terrors in the United attack.
United goalkeeper Danny Robinson was quickly in the action as the visitors forced early corners and produced telling shots from Alex Feneridis and Adam Dickinson. Waitakere's best early chance came when Mike Gwyther threatened to break through only to be upended by Vicelich on the edge of the penalty area.
In a first half devoid of really testing shots, Aaron Scott played a good ball in to Gwyther but City custodian Jacob Spoonley was equal to the challenge.
Spoonley was quick to ice his hand after the match, fearing a broken finger.
City again made the early pace in the second spell as referee Campbell-Kirk Waugh continued to fill his notebook, eventually dishing out nine yellow and three red cards. The breakthrough goal came in the 63rd minute when City broke on the left. Dickinson played the ball in and Daniel Koprivcic whipped home the killer blow.
In a late handbag scuffle Dickinson and United's Jack Pelter, both booked in the first half, were shown second yellows and then reds to leave just 19 players to play out the remaining 16 minutes.
"I was disappointed in the way we lost," said Waitakere coach Neil Emblen. "Again, we didn't click at home. Well done to Auckland. I thought Jacob Spoonley turned in a man of the match performance."
Wellington kept themselves in the hunt with a 2-1 away win over Canterbury United in front of a big crowd in Nelson.
Waikato FC picked up a valuable point with a 2-2 home draw with Otago United to remain in the top four.
