Auckland FC have liftoff, the A-Leagues' newest club making an instant impact with a 2-0 victory over Brisbane Roar on home debut. Both the sky and the Mt Smart Stadium stands were blue as Auckland FC arrived in the competition, their picture-perfect debut finishing with a scoreline to delight the sold-out crowd. Harry Van Der Saag's eighth minute own goal gave the Black Knights an early lead on Saturday, before Logan Rogerson's composed second-half finish secured the result.
This was a day that went completely to script for the hosts and league chiefs. Not only could coach Steve Corica be happy with three points, but Auckland FC's billionaire majority owner Bill Foley would be delighted with the bumper support from Aucklanders. The thumping 24,492-strong attendance was vindication too for head office, which awarded the license and pushed on with the club's entrance, injecting some much-needed vitality to the competition.
That figure was just south of the best-ever crowd for for an A-League Men club's inaugural game, showing the appetite for the sport in New Zealand's biggest city. Auckland FC's early breakthrough came from an unlikely source. Van Der Saag, the former Adelaide United defender, became the answer to the inevitable pub quiz question of the club's first goalscorer, tapping into his own net in the most unfortunate of fashions.
Guillermo May released Hiroki Sakai down the right, who bore down on goal and drove the ball across the face, where Van Der Saag miscontrol.