Melbourne Victory break Auckland hearts to snatch spot in A-League Men grand final
Melbourne Victory have denied Auckland a shot at an A-League Men fairytale after turning around a one-goal deficit with a 2-0 win in the second leg of their semi-final on Saturday. Victory enforcers Zinedine Machach and Bruno Fornaroli were the villains as the Black Knights lost for just the second time at Go Media Stadium, this season, and fell behind 2-1 on aggregate to end the premiers' hopes of clinching a historic double in their inaugural season.
It took a goalline clearance from Victory defender Josh Rawlins deep into the seven minutes of added time, as well as an earlier contentious call to rule out a Logan Rogerson header that would have levelled the tie, for the visitors to book a place in the decider against the winner of the Melbourne City or Western United semi-final.
Machach opened the scoring with a speculative shot from long range that was heading well wide of the far post before a desperate lunge from Black Knights defender Nando Pijnaker directed the ball the opposite way. Auckland shotstopper Alex Paulsen was wrong footed and left stranded as the wicked deflection dribbled into the bottom corner of his goal to level the tie in the 55th minute.
With the wind in their sails, Victory pressed to claim the advantage and soon found an aggregate lead through combative frontman Fornaroli. The 37-year-old drew on his vast experience and guile to creep out of an offside position and into vacant space between Black Knights defenders with enough time to swivel and fire into the bottom left of the net in the 60th minute.
Auckland thought they had levelled the tie at two-all on aggregate when first-tie goalscorer Logan Rogerson headed home from the edge of the goalline in the 69th minute. But while Guillermo May had pounced on the ball just before it rolled out for a goal kick and his cross sailed over Victory keeper Jack Duncan to Rogerson at the back post, the linesman was quick to raise a flag and replays were not clear enough to show that it had not drifted out while in the air.
Duncan almost gave the Black Knights a crucial goal in the 97th minute when fumbling a high ball that allowed Pijnaker a shot from close range. But with Rawlins perfectly placed to keep the ball out of the net, the hosts were left to rue missed opportunities late in the first leg while licking their wounds after a memorable first season.
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The win was Melbourne's first over Auckland after failing to score in their three earlier clashes and leaves coach Arthur Diles's side within touching distance of breaking a seven-year championship drought despite losing coach Patrick Kisnorbo midway through the season. City loom as Victory's most likely opponents in a Melbourne derby grand final after a 3-0 away win over Western United before the second leg of their semi-final is played at AAMI Park on Saturday night.
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