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Auckland City FC versus AS Manu Ura (Tahiti)
Played on 17/10/2009 at Kiwitea Street |
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O-League Champs Start Season With Solid Win
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Goals |
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Chad Coombes |
1 |
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Daniel Koprivcic |
3 |
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Ivan Vicelich |
1 |
Clean Sheet |
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Jacob Spoonley |
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By Jeremy Ruane with the compliments of www.sportswebsoccer.com
Reigning OFC Champions League title-holders Auckland City began their pursuit of successive championships in solid fashion on October 17, comfortably accounting for Tahitian champions AS Manu Ura 5-0 at Kiwitea Street.
A second half hat-trick from new recruit Daniel Koprivcic was the individual highlight of the match, which saw the visitors – striker Jean-Francois Kabeu particularly – impressing with their individual skills, but failing to make much headway against a City side in which midfielder Ki Hyung Lee and captain Ivan Vicelich impressed throughout.
City began brightly, Lee twice going close in a ninety-second spell after just eight minutes with trademark twenty-five yard volleys. His first, set up by Keryn Jordan, fizzed a yard past Daniel Tapeta’s right-hand post, while Manu Ura’s ‘keeper produced a superb save to keep Lee’s late-dipping effort from the resulting goal-kick.
After Matt Williams had headed a James Pritchett cross to the far post over the crossbar, City opened the scoring in the eighteenth minute with a text-book set-piece goal. Lee’s corner to the near post picked out Vicelich, whose downward header beat Tapeta and company all ends up.
Seven minutes later, Pritchett and Lee linked on the right, with the midfielder picking out Jordan with a gem of a cross. The striker’s header flew past the post, a miss which sparked Manu Ura’s best spell of the match, just before the half-hour mark.
Philippe Moreta headed a Hiroana Poroiea free-kick over the bar, before whipping in a free-kick from half-way which saw Kabeu nip in behind City’s defence to execute an unchallenged header at goal, bringing about Jacob Spoonley’s lone save of the match.
But for the over-eager challenge of Auguste Washetine seconds earlier, it may not have been the ‘keeper’s lone involvement in the match, because the Tahitian midfielder caught Chad Coombes in possession twenty-five yards out from City’s goal.
The City midfielder’s efforts to make amends for his blunder saw him get his body between ball and opponent, who came within a foul of finding himself one-on-one with just Spoonley to beat.
Coombes soon made amends for his lapse in concentration, firing home the goal in the 34th minute which left Manu Ura with a mountain to climb. The goal owed much to the quick-witted Alex Feneridis, whose swiftly taken free-kick released Jordan down the left.
Spotting Coombes steaming up in support through the inside-left channel, Jordan produced a delightful lay-off which put his team-mate clear of all-comers, and a deft finish beyond Tapeta and into the far corner of the net crowned a lovely move in the manner it deserved.
That goal effectively killed off any hopes Manu Ura held of causing a massive upset, and before half-time City could have increased their lead. Vicelich cracked a shot on the turn at Tapeta, while Coombes steered the ball wide of the target following good build-up work on the right.
Three minutes before half-time, Williams’ quickly taken free-kick rewarded Jordan’s clever run into space on the left. The striker evaded a challenge before clipping a delightfully weighted cross to the far post, where Williams, who had stormed downfield upon sparking the move, was arriving on cue to execute a diving header, which was blocked to safety.
But for a fine diving save low to his right by Tapeta, Jordan would have scored the goal his lively display deserved, the striker’s towering header the result of Lee’s mesmerizing cross from the left in the shadows of the half-time whistle.
There was no let-up for the visitors in the second spell, with City taking just five minutes to get back into their stride. Pritchett and Coombes combined on the right, with the latter opting to chance his arm with a cross-shot which Tapeta gratefully gathered under the crossbar.
The filthy look Jordan cast in Coombes’ direction spoke volumes for what the most prolific marksman in City’s history thought of his team-mate’s option-taking, but he enjoyed far better service two minutes later when Lee picked him out with another pinpoint free-kick, despite shirt-tugging aplenty taking place in the Manu Ura penalty area.
Jordan got in ahead of Tapeta on this occasion, but saw his header deflected out for a corner, which Lee whipped into the near post. The goalkeeper punched the ball off Williams’ head, and repeated the feat just after the hour mark.
This time, the ‘keeper fisted the ball off Jordan’s head, Williams having surged forward before playing the ball wide to Coombes, who clearly didn’t fancy being on the wrong end of another filthy look from his goal-hunting team-mate, judging by the fine quality of the cross he delivered to the near post.
It was Jordan’s last involvement in the match, City’s first in what promises to be another demanding campaign, one which sees them pursuing success on three fronts. His replacement, Jason Hayne, only failed to hit the target by a yard in the 68th minute, cutting inside past two players before letting fly from twenty yards on receipt of a pass from Coombes.
The resulting goal-kick brought reward for City, in the form of a fine solo goal by Koprivcic. Pouncing on the poor clearance, he outmuscled one defender and outfoxed another before calmly steering the sphere wide of the stranded Tapeta from twenty yards – 3-0.
Five minutes later, he came close to netting City’s fourth when Feneridis and Hayne combined to good effect, the substitute feeding the overlapping Ian Hogg, whose gorgeous curling cross to the far post was just steered beyond it by the stretching striker.
The offside flag spared Spoonley’s blushes fifteen minutes from time, City’s ‘keeper executing the perfect air-shot as he looked to clear the ball downfield. Billy Mataitai dashed through and ran the ball into an empty net, but the intervention of referee’s assistant Mark Rule was the first of two in City’s favour before the final whistle.
The second came six minutes from time, and resulted in a red card for Vetea Tepa. The official saw the midfielder execute a late challenge which scythed down Feneridis after he had played the ball, and his report to unsighted referee Gerard Parsons prompted the generally well-performed whistle-blower to wield the red card, much to the ire of Tepa and his team-mates.
By this time, they had conceded a fourth goal, which was sparked by Vicelich’s ball forward to Lee, whose raking cross-field ball changed the angle of City’s attack and completely unhinged Manu Ura’s defence.
Hayne was the beneficiary of the pass, but his lack of a left foot for purposes other than providing balance saw him closed down as he looked to cut inside onto his right shooting foot. The substitute managed to get a pass away, however, and Koprivcic took full advantage, powering into the penalty area before blasting the ball home via the underside of the crossbar.
4-0 became 5-0 in stoppage time, Koprivcic rounding off his hat-trick from the penalty spot after referee Parsons ruled that Moreta, who had already been booked, had handled the ball in the area while under pressure from the hat-trick-hunting striker.
The result fairly reflected the dominance City enjoyed over their Tahitian rivals, who, unusually, failed to use any of their substitutes in a match which saw Oceania’s champion club produce a solid performance, but which offered plenty of scope for improvement in the weeks and months ahead.
Auckland: Spoonley; Pritchett, Uhlmann, Vicelich, Hogg; Williams, Lee (McGeorge, 84), Feneridis; Coombes (Dickinson, 71), Jordan (Hayne, 62), Koprivcic
Manu Ura: Tapeta; Tepa (sent off, 84), Moreta (booked, 79), Tauihara, Faura (booked, 55); Tapea, Auraa, Washetine, Poroiea; Mataitai, Kabeu
Referee: Gerard Parsons (Australia)
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Club World Cup December 2009 - UAE |
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