Auckland FC drop points to Melbourne City
- Jan 17
- 2 min read
A lack of a killer instinct may have cost Auckland FC in their 2-1 away loss to Melbourne City in the A-League.
It was Auckland's third defeat of the season - the same number they suffered last season across their entire campaign.
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They remain top of the points table, but Sydney FC are just two points back with two games in hand. Sydney will go to the top if they are victorious at home to Wellington Phoenix on Sunday.
In-form forward Lachlan Brook scored his sixth goal of the season to open the match which coach Steve Corica felt should have seen them home.
"We had a couple of counter-attacks in the second half but we weren't ruthless enough," Corica said.
"You know, we go up 1-nil, we need to finish teams off by getting the second goal and we didn't do that."
The visitors had the better of a tense first half, but Melbourne City created the better chances after break, rewarded by two late goals.
The first was a contentious penalty, questioned by Corica, after a City shot struck the hand of defender Francis de Vries.
Corica was forced into an early change when captain Hiroki Sakai went down when challenging for a header.
The coach later revealed it was a hamstring problem, after the former Japanese international had returned from a lengthy stint on the sideline recovering from a similar issue.
The change meant de Vries picked up the captain's armband, after earlier in the day it was announced that the All Whites wing back had signed an extension to stay at the club until the end of 28/29 season.
Auckland FC are at home to face the Central Coast Mariners next Saturday, 24 January.
