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Auckland FC's dream debut season ends with semi-final shock
Joey Lynch, AAP • May 24th, 2025 8:30 pm
Photo: Shane Wenzlick/AAP
Melbourne Victory have dashed Auckland FC's hopes of a fairytale A-League Men grand final appearance, upsetting the expansion franchise 2-0 in the second leg of their semi-final to secure a 2-1 aggregate win and place in next week's decider.
Goals from Zinedine Machach and Bruno Fornaroli overturned the AAMI Park deficit in the space of five second-half minutes, silencing a sold-out Mt Smart Stadium and ensuring next week's final will be an all-Melbourne affair.
Regardless of whether Arthur Diles' side is joined by Melbourne City or Western United, the former holding a 3-0 lead heading into the second leg of their semi, the clash will be staged at AAMI Park next Saturday evening.
It marks a second-straight grand final appearance for the Victory after they lost to Central Coast in last year's decider and represents a remarkable turnaround from December, when coach Patrick Kisnorbo's abrupt exit to take up a position in Japan sparked a six-game winless run.
Zinedine Machach scored one of two Melbourne Victory goals in the win over Auckland FC | Photo: Shane Wenzlick/AAP
Their joy came at the expense of the Black Knights' hopes of securing a historic premiership and championship double in their debut season.
But the Victory face the prospect of being without Nishan Velupillay for next week after the attacker suffered a potentially serious injury at the end of a spiteful first half.
Hurting his lower right leg in the incident, the Socceroo emerged to watch the second half on crutches, with serious questions now hovering over his availability for crunch World Cup qualifiers against Japan and Saudi Arabia next month.
The visitors rallied without the attacker and took the lead ten minutes into the second stanza when a long-range effort from Machach took a wicked deflection off Nando Pijnaker, wrong-footing keeper Alex Paulsen and finding the net.
Melbourne Victory snatch win from Auckland FC in ALM semi-finals | Sport Nation
Five minutes later, a superb pass from Jordi Valadon found Fornaroli at the top of the box, allowing the Socceroo striker to masterfully turn and bury the ball into the bottom corner.
In dramatic scenes, Auckland's Logan Rogerson thought he'd brought the aggregate score level when he headed in at the far post in the 69th minute, only for it to be ruled the ball had gone out in the build-up.
Steve Corica's side hurled everything they had at the Victory in the remaining 20 minutes but their desperate attempts proved in vain, with Josh Rawlins clearing a Pijnaker effort off the line 98th minute to seal it.
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Steve Corica vents frustrations after semi-final loss | Sport Nation
