By Harrison Ryburn
Auckland FC have made the perfect start to life in the A-Leagues, opening their season with a convincing 2-0 victory against the Brisbane Roar in front of a capacity crowd at Go Media Stadium Mt Smart.
Goals in either half sent the Black Knights on their way, looking comfortable on their competitive debut throughout.
Main photo: All Whites striker Logan Rogerson turns to celebrate after scoring his side’s second goal.
A traditional Maori powhiri welcomed the two sides onto the ground under perfect blue skies, and it only took eight minutes to get supporter group The Port singing in the packed southern stand.
A lethal counterattack saw Guilermo May pick out the run of Hiroki Sakai down the right flank, and the Japanese international’s low cross into the mixer was turned into the back of the net by Harry Van der Saag at the back post.
Auckland FC had scored the first goal of their competitive history, and Mt Smart Stadium was up on its feet.
Sakai ran away in celebration, pumping his fist in front of the East Stand, creating an image that will live long in the annals of the club’s history.
The hosts created another chance ten minutes later, as Liam Gillion cut inside off his wing and found Louis Verstraete at the top of the box, only for the Belgian to pull his effort inches wide of the left post.
The pace of Gillion down the left flank, and May’s hold-up play through the middle created havoc for the Brisbane defence, and both players stood out early on.
The Black Knights were looking comfortable as such, and Brisbane were restricted to only a couple of half-chances through the first stanza, all of which were fired straight at Alex Paulsen.
Much like the opening half, Steve Corica’s men began the second on the front foot too, creating two opportunities inside the first three minutes.
Jake Brimmer forced Martin Freke into a save from his free kick near the top left corner of the box, before Brisbane gave the ball away to May on the edge of their own box moments later.
With just the ‘keeper to beat, the Uruguayan couldn’t find the target, though, poking his effort inches wide of the bottom left corner from point-blank range.
Gillion was presented with another big chance just after the hour mark, latching onto a pass from Francis De Vries down the left-hand side of the box.
Again Freke was the only man in the way of Auckland’s second goal, but the keeper made himself big to rush off his line and parry away.
The Roar were hanging on, and eventually, the pressure told.
With just under twenty minutes to play, De Vries found Logan Rogerson at the back post with a pinpoint low delivery, and the winger was on hand to tap home and double the hosts’ advantage.
Looking comfortable, and up two goals to the good, chants of “we are top of the league” spread around the crowd.
Gillon came close to adding a third late in stoppage time, running onto a pass down the right side of the box, but lashing his effort into the side netting.
Steve Corica’s men had kickstarted their campaign with three points, and a confidence-boosting victory in front of their new fans.
History had been made.
Match highlights
WATCH: Highlights from Auckland FC’s first-ever men’s A-League match >>>>
Match stats (Auckland FC / Brisbane Roar)
Shots: 16 / 12
Shots on target: 3 / 5
Possession: 41% / 59%
Passes: 398 / 568
Pass accuracy: 82% / 83%
Fouls: 10 / 7
Yellow cards: 1 / 1
Offsides: 3 / 1
Corners: 4 / 6
Result
Game played on Saturday October 19, 2024
Auckland FC 2 (own goal 8′, Logan Rogerson 74′)
Brisbane Roar 0
Official attendance: 24,492.
Harrison Ryburn
Harrison Ryburn is a Canterbury-based football writer who travelled to Auckland for the match.
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