Auckland City not counting their chickens ahead of second leg of Oceania final – Stuff.co.nz

ANDREW VOERMAN

Last updated13:10, May 6 2017

PHOTOSPORT

Ryan de Vries and Auckland City have one hand on the OFC Champions League title heading into the second leg of the final.

Though their coach won't let them believe it for one second, Auckland City have a hand on the OFC Champions League trophy.

That was obvious to everyone after the first of the final's two legs at Kiwitea St lastSunday, where they beat Team Wellington 3-0, in a game where they could have scored plenty more, but for the heroics of goalkeeper Scott Basalaj, who made six world-class saves to keep the tie alive - but only just.

At Dave Farrington Park on Sunday, the men from the capital will need to win by four, or 3-0 then on penalties,to claim the continental prize, which has belonged to City for the past six years, and also qualifies the winner for the Club World Cup.

PHOTOSPORT

Joao Moreira celebrates his second goal in the first leg.

Can they do it?

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PHOTOSPORT

Team Wellington goalie Scott Basalaj gave up a penalty here, but was otherwise brilliant in the first leg.

You bet, andRamonTribulietx, City's coach, knows it.

He saw Barcelona, his hometown club, come back from 4-0down after the first legto beat Paris Saint-Germain in theUEFAChampions League last month, so he knows it'spossible. And in New Zealand, he saw three of his men earn red cards and hit the showers in a 4-1 loss to Waitakere United in February, and he also saw Team Wellington come from behind four times to beat Waitakere in their national league semifinal.

They arethreerecent examples of howfootball can turn ridiculous at a moment's notice,and that's why no one was celebrating too hard in Sandringham lastweekend - you just never know what might happen.

All the same, it's hard to see City letting it slip from here, especially not when it would be their seventh straight title, and when it would mean another ticket to the Club World Cup, which is this year being played in the United Arab Emirates, a new location with a new local side for the Oceania champions - whoever they may be - to get past in the first instance.

City gained the upper hand in this tie inside 30 minutes last Sunday, taking a more direct approach than usual, and putting Team Wellington's three central defenders under pressure right from the start. They could have been up 2-0 inside five minutes, but for Basalaj's brilliant keeping and the post, and when they did notch up that scoreline on the half-hour mark, it was well deserved.

In the second half, the two sides assumed roles that were reversals of how they usually like to play, and of how they played in the national league final, with Team Wellington having possession, and City trying to press andpounce on the counter-attack. It was a shift that stymied Team Wellington at times - they were oftencontent to float balls in from deep that were dealt with easily by defenders Angel Berlanga and Daewook Kim - and they will need to rediscover some variety in attack if they are to have any chance of a comeback in the second leg.

They will also need to put in their best defensive showing of the season, because as soon as City score, the score-three-and-penalties option will be off the table, courtesy of the away goals rule, which means City would then win any aggregate draw come the end of 90 minutes.

It is easy to applaudTeam Wellington's ridiculous goalscoring record - they have scored 83 in 26 matches this season, and only been kept scoreless three times, including in the first leg of this final- but the more telling statistic might be the down the other end of the pitch, where they have only kept threeclean sheets.

AT A GLANCE

OFC Champions League final - second leg

Team Wellington v Auckland City Dave Farrington Park, Wellington Sunday, May 7;1pm

-Stuff

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