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NZ Herald
28-05-2025
- Sport
- NZ Herald
Football Australia explains disallowed goal in Auckland FC semifinal loss
Football Australia has explained why match officials ruled out Logan Rogerson's goal in Auckland FC's A-League semifinal against the Melbourne Victory. The crucial decision on Saturday at Go Media Stadium came after Auckland FC went 2-0 down (2-1 on aggregate) in the second half of the second leg of
RNZ News
26-05-2025
- Sport
- RNZ News
Football: Disallowed Auckland FC goal 'doesn't sit well' with Steve Corica
Cam Howieson of Auckland FC holds his face in dejection as Melbourne Victory players celebrate their 2-0 win, A-League semi-final, 2025. Photo: Andrew Cornaga/ The disappointment for Auckland FC and coach Steve Corica is going to linger for a long time. The A-League men's premiership winners fell at the season's penultimate hurdle on Saturday night, when they lost 2-0 to Melbourne Victory before 29,000 fans at Mt Smart Stadium in the second leg of their semifinal tie. Auckland FC just needed a draw to go through, but it is the Victory - with a 2-1 aggregate score - who will play Melbourne City in the grand final this Saturday. Corica railed after the game about [ a ruling that denied them a goal after Logan Rogerson headed a Guillermo May high cross into the net in the 69th minute. It appeared that the linesman had judged that May's cross had drifted out of play before the goal. "The referees made a bad decision -the linesman has and so has the VAR, whoever is in charge up there because that would have obviously helped us get back into the game," Corica said. His attitude had not changed when he spoke to RNZ's Morning Report on Monday. "Pretty disappointed still, just the way the game finished with the disallowed goal. For us, it probably would have changed the game. "I think it would have helped us. Obviously goals change the momentum of games and also if we scored that, the game would have gone to extra time and I think we were looking the stronger of the teams to finish well.'' That said, he acknowledged Victory's performance. "Melbourne were a good team, they obviously deserve to be in the final now. It's just a little bit disappointing with that disallowed goal, it doesn't sit too well for me. "It's going to be a long off-season I suppose, thinking about that too much. Auckland FC's head coach Steve Corica during the A-League men's second leg semifinal against Melbourne Victory. Photo: Shane Wenzlick / "Overall I am really proud of the players and all the staff, it's been an incredible season for us winning the premiership in our first year. But we probably finished one game short, I think." Corica did not feel that just needing a draw to make the grand final affected the players' thinking. "I don't think so, that wasn't our mindset going into the game. I don't think we were at our very best, I think they changed a little bit, their structure, which they hadn't done all season. I think that was a little bit harder for us to break them down - they went more defensive, so they were quite solid, and we were finding it tough to get into good areas and create a lot of chances. "That is why that disallowed goal would have been so important for us - because it would have helped us and momentum would have changed, and we would have had a very good opportunity to move forward into a grand final. "But that's in hindsight now. It is hard to take but I suppose that is football, sometimes you get the luck go your way and sometimes you don't. Despite the disappointment, the club had plenty to celebrate in its inaugural season. "We've broken a lot of records, won the premiership in our first season, we have had over 200,000 supporters come through the gates, that's amazing really, I think we are the highest crowd in the A-League," Corica said. "The derbies have been amazing as well this season. And I have told the players and the staff that I am really proud of what they have achieved in their first year. It's never easy to build a squad and win a premiership in your first year. "Our aim was to get into the grand final and win that as well - that is going to have to be on hold until next year. "Maybe that is a real motivation to go one better next year." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Reuters
25-05-2025
- Sport
- Reuters
Coach Corica rails at officials as Auckland miss out on Grand Final
May 25 (Reuters) - Auckland FC coach Steve Corica criticised officials after missing out on a place in the A-League Grand Final as Saturday's 2-0 loss against Melbourne Victory denied the New Zealanders a season-ending clash against Melbourne City next week. Goals from Zinedine Machach and Bruno Fornaroli saw Victory overturn a 1-0 first leg deficit to allow Arthur Diles' side to set up an all-Melbourne final while Corica fumed over a disallowed effort from Logan Rogerson with 21 minutes remaining. "I don't want an apology, I want the right decision to be made," said Corica, who led A-League debutantes Auckland to the Premiership title. "My opinion is they got it wrong and that could have cost us getting back into the game, for one, and getting into a final. "You're talking about big decisions so you would hope they would get it right but I don't think so." Auckland were trailing 2-0 on the night and 2-1 on aggregate when Rogerson headed in from close range after Guillermo May had crossed from the byeline, momentarily believing he had pulled his side level overall. But officials ruled the ball had gone out of play before swinging back in prior to Rogerson making contact to leave the New Zealand international with his head in his hands and the 30,000 crowd booing the officials in anger. "The atmosphere was amazing here again, they've been sensational here all year, the supporters, and we appreciate that," said Corica. "I'm probably more disappointed for them. "I think they've been the best crowd all season, they've turned up every week in really good numbers and it's disappointing that they don't get to host a Grand Final next week because of poor refereeing decisions." Victory coach Diles claimed not to have seen the incident and was instead preparing himself for a meeting with crosstown rivals Melbourne City in the Grand Final. "It's a great moment for us as a football club, something we've worked really hard for and you get a reward tonight off the back of that," he said. "It was beautiful to play in front of 30,000 fans tonight. It was even nicer to spoil the party."
1News
24-05-2025
- Sport
- 1News
What you need to know as Auckland FC take on Melbourne Victory
Auckland FC are one win or draw away from hosting the biggest football event the city has seen in years. Here's everything you need to know ahead of kickoff. Auckland FC v Melbourne Victory Kick-off: 6pm Saturday, May 24 Go Media Mt Smart Stadium Auckland FC are one win or draw away from hosting the biggest football event the city has seen in years. Auckland have the advantage going into the second A-League semi-final against Melbourne Victory and success in front of their home fans will secure a place in the Grand Final. Finals football comes with nerves and tension, but Auckland coach Steve Corica said his side were ready for the pressure of playing at home. "The boys have worked out now how intense the finals are, but I think our players did rise to the level that we expect of finals and we're going to have to go a little bit better than that this weekend. If we get the job done this weekend the final is even more immense." As the goal-scorer in the first semi-final, Logan Rogerson said 1-0 is a "niggly scoreline". "It's over two legs they could get right back into it so we need to be fully focussed and hopefully we can score early and see how the game plays out." Joint leading goal-scorer Guillermo May has been nursing a knee injury and has been on limited training since the start of the playoffs, but the Uruguayan said he was "never" going to miss the return leg of the semi-finals. Max Mata did not travel for the first semi-final due to a hamstring concern. Corica said he was "touch and go" ahead of the second semi-final. Corica made clear not much would change tactically in the second semi-final — despite his side being called one-dimensional by Victory player Daniel Arzani after the last game. But he said the team had learnt from the slow start in the first semi-final. "We want to start the opposite now, we want to start on the front foot, we're at home we want to take it to them straight away and hopefully get another goal." Victory have not scored against Auckland in more the 270 minutes of football this season and Corica said Auckland were prepared should Victory finally break the goal drought. "We've spoken about if that happens, they've got to go back to being positive and a draw is not the worst for us. If we can get a draw we go through but if they score and we go down it's just about getting a goal and moving forward, getting good numbers forward, getting balls into the box like we do and creating problems for them." Corica expected physicality to be let go by the referees like it was last week. "I don't think there was any bad fouls it was just physical. It's a tough game sometimes and we'll be up for it and I know they'll be up for it. Goalkeepers: Alex Paulsen, Michael Woud; Defenders: Hiroki Sakai, Nando Pijnaker, Dan Hall, Tommy Smith, Francis de Vries, Callan Elliot; Midfielders: Louis Verstraete, Cameron Howieson, Luis Toomey, Jake Brimmer, Felipe Gallegos; Attackers: Max Mata, Guillermo May, Jesse Randall, Logan Rogerson, Neyder Moreno, Marlee Francois, Liam Gillion (two to be omitted). Victory have been hit by injuries to several of their defensive players. Captain Roderick Miranda was a late withdrawal from the first semi-final and his replacement in the backline, Brendan Hamill, suffered a season-ending anterior cruciate ligament injury during the game. Victory coach Arthur Diles said Miranda had returned to training this week but a decision on whether he would travel would be left as late as possible. Diles said they did not fear the task ahead of them against the Premiers. "It's our job to try and knock them off their perch, it's backs to the wall for us guaranteed but there is a big party waiting there to be spoiled and we've got to do everything we can to spoil that party." In a must-win match Diles said he wanted more "purpose and intent higher up the park". "They're very well organised defensively and they make things really difficult for you. "We've got to be willing to be patient, not lose structure, stick to the process and eventually you can break them down. They were probably more disciplined and patient than we were last week for 100% of the game and we were for 97% of the game and in the end that's probably the difference and in these matches it's those small details that make a big difference." Goalkeepers: Jack Duncan, Daniel Graskoski; Defenders: Lachlan Jackson, Roderick Miranda, Joshua Inserra, Joshua Rawlins, Kasey Bos; Midfielders: Ryan Teague, Zinedine Machach, Jordi Valadon, Fabian Monge, Reno Piscopo; Forwards: Daniel Arzani, Nikolaos Vergos, Bruno Fornaroli, Clerismario Santos Rodrigues, Nishan Velupillay, Jing Reec, Alexander Badolato. A-League players have this week voted Mt Smart Stadium as having the best atmosphere of any stadium in the competition. In the club's first season, Auckland averaged the highest attendances across the league (18,101) with another sell-out crowd, the fifth of the season, expected for Saturday's semi-final. Additional seating has been put into the north end of the stadium to accommodate demand. Auckland FC CEO Nick Becker paid tribute to the club's fans for making the stadium a "fortress". "They have brought the noise, the atmosphere and created an environment that the team love being a part of. We have the best average attendance in the league, the best fans in the league and now officially the best atmosphere to go with it." Corica said people stopped him in the streets to thank him for what the club was doing for football in the city. "That makes me really proud, obviously the boys have done a fantastic job on the field, marketing off the field as well, but they've really got behind us, the supporters, from the moment we kicked off. The Port's been amazing it's growing all the time and they're going to bring the noise and that's what we want. "All of Auckland have got right behind us and we appreciate it ... that's what footballers are all about playing in front of big crowds and we've been lucky enough to play in front of sell-out crowds, so it is amazing." To reach the Grand Final, Auckland can win or draw. Victory must win by two goals. If the aggregate goals are the same between both teams at full time the game will go to extra time. Should the game need to go to penalties, both sides said they had been preparing. Auckland had not taken a penalty all season, something which May said was "strange" and Corica said he hoped "we won't have to" take penalties to decide the outcome. In the other semi-final, Melbourne City have a three-goal advantage over Western United ahead of the second leg of the tie and are favourites to move on to next week's showpiece event.
RNZ News
24-05-2025
- Sport
- RNZ News
Auckland FC's A-League debut double dream dashed by Melbourne Victory
By Mathew Nash Auckland FC's Logan Rogerson's shot was deemed offside, on Saturday night. Photo: Shane Wenzlick / Auckland FC's fairytale inaugural season in the A-League has ended in heartbreaking fashion after a 2-0 defeat to Melbourne Victory at Mount Smart Stadium saw them crash out of the A-League Finals Series semi-finals 2-1 on aggregate. Holding a 1-0 lead from the first leg in Melbourne, Auckland looked poised to reach the A-League Grand Final in their debut campaign. For 55 minutes, the Black Knights held firm. But in the space of five brutal second-half minutes, their hopes were ripped apart by two sucker-punch goals from the visitors. Victory's first came in sickening fashion. Zinédine Machach let fly from a distance and saw his shot deflect cruelly off Nando Pijnaker's knee, wrong-footing Alex Paulsen and levelling the tie. Before Auckland could recover, Bruno Fornaroli showed his class, to drift into space and hammer home the comeback completer and give Victory the advantage on the night and in the tie. Melbourne Victory's Zinédine Machach and Auckland FC's Luis Leiva, at Go Media Stadium in Auckland, on Saturday. Photo: Shane Wenzlick / From there, Auckland threw everything at their Australian rivals. They thought they had a lifeline when Logan Rogerson headed home after a looping cut-back from Guillermo May - only for the goal to be ruled out, with the ball adjudged to have gone out of play moments earlier. Replays suggested it was marginal, and Auckland will feel aggrieved the decision didn't go their way. In typical Black Knights fashion, they pushed until the final whistle, embodying the 'Late Knights' moniker that has defined much of their campaign. Deep into stoppage time it nearly paid off as Jack Duncan spilled a cross into the path of Pijnaker, only for his effort to be cleared off the line by Josh Rawlins in what proved to be the final blow. Despite the gutting end, Auckland's debut season has been nothing short of remarkable. A record crowd of 29,148 packed into Mount Smart to will their side to history, and while it wasn't to be, the foundations laid in 2025 are promising. For Melbourne Victory, it marks the second consecutive year knocking out a Kiwi side in New Zealand at this stage - first the Wellington Phoenix in 2024, now Auckland 12 months later. Steve Corica and his men will be left to rue what might have been, but they exit the competition with heads held high and a Premier's Plate to be proud of. Relive all the plays, with RNZ's blog: Auckland FC : Alex Paulsen, Hiroki Sakai, Nando Pijnaker, Tommy Smith, Louis Verstraete, Cameron Howieson, Luis Toomey, Max Mata, Guillermo May, Marlee François, Michael Woud, Liam Gillion, Francis de Vries, Callan Elliot, Jesse Randall, Jake Brimmer, Dan Hall, Neyder Moreno, Logan Rogerson, Luis Felipe Gallegos Melbourne Victory: Mitch Langerak, Adama Traore, Lachlan Jackson, Brendan Hamill, Ryan Teague, Daniel Arzani, Zinedine Machach, Nikolaos Vergos, Bruno Fornaroli, Jordi Valadon, Joshua Inserra, Nishan Velupillay, Fabian Monge, Jing Reec, Roderick Miranda, Joshua Rawlins, Alexander Badolato, Jack Duncan, Luka Kolic, Kasey Bos
