There were chances galore at Go Media Stadium, but only one goal as Auckland FC took a 1-0 victory against Sydney FC to retake their place at the top of the Isuzu UTE A-League ladder.
Both Harrison Devenish-Mears and Michael Woud were kept busy in goal for the duration of the match, as Sam Cosgrove’s 20th minute goal proved the difference.
Cosgrove used some true poacher’s instinct to score his goal, poking the ball home after Sydney failed to clear Francis De Vries’s looping cross from the left.
Both sides had a big chance to score in the 30th minute, first Woud pulled off a pair of excellent saves at one end to stop Sydney equalising, before Paul Okon-Engstler’s desperate lunging effort denied Cosgrove from making it 2-0 at the other end.
Auckland were forced to reshuffle their attack when Lachlan Brook copped an errant elbow into the back during an aerial contest, the winger needing to be substituted for Guillermo May just before half time.
The frames of both goals had some work to do early in the second half, first Tiago Quintal struck the right post of Auckland’s goal, before May rattled the left post of Sydney’s net on the counter attack.
Devenish-Mears pulled off one of the saves of the season around the hour mark with a reflex save low to his right to deny Cosgrove’s diving header and keep Sydney in the match.
Both sides continued to attack in an enthralling finish, but neither side could find a way past the keepers.
The two teams now don’t have to wait long for the rematch, with the postponed game from earlier in the season scheduled for Tuesday, February 17th.
