Football Round-up: Christmas Calamity Demonstrates Alarming Trend For Auckland And Wellington

Friday, 27 December 2024, 9:06 pm
Article: RNZ

Mathew Nash, Sports Contributor

Wellington Phoenix v Newcastle Jets

Kick-off: 5pm Saturday 28 December

Sky Stadium, Wellington

Live blog updates on RNZ Sport

Auckland FC vs Central Coast Mariners

Kick-off: 7pm Saturday 28 December

Industree Group Stadium, Gosford

Live blog updates on RNZ Sport

Analysis - A little less than a month ago, I declared that the 'A' in 'A-League' stood for 'Aotearoa', after a successful trip across the ditch for the Unite Round saw Auckland FC and the Wellington Phoenix occupy the top two spots in the division.

However, after a Christmas calamity at the weekend, the 'A' stands for 'abject' with regards to the most recent performances from New Zealand's two professional clubs.

First, Auckland were swept aside 4-0 by Western United at home to end their unbeaten debut campaign in quite the unfestive manner. The Phoenix could not improve the holidays for the nation the following day, as they went down 4-1 to Western Sydney Wanderers on the road.

Both teams are also following a similar trend at the moment - an inability to start games well.

The Black Knights will rightly have complaints around the referee-assisted third goal, but the damage was already done in an opening 35 minutes in which they conceded three times. The Phoenix started even slower, with errors from Isaac Hughes and Corban Piper allowing the Wanderers to go 2-0 up within the first 10 minutes. Spare a thought for Hughes, who must be on Santa's naughty list for some reason, as he keeps getting lumps of coal at the weekends.

Zac Sapsford's goal came inside the opening 60 seconds while the ghost of Christmas past, Bozhidar Kraev, demonstrated why the Phoenix may have been better keeping hold of him instead of signing the absent Marco Rojas in under 10.

It was the football equivalent of getting your Christmas shopping in early, leaving Auckland and Wellington scrambling for a park and scrapping over the last Barbie Dream House.

Auckland have developed a reputation for finishing games strongly, but were also vulnerable early doors last week in the 2-2 draw with Melbourne City. As for Wellington, this was the second week in a row where they conceded in the opening 10 minutes, having trailed to Valerie Germain's penalty follow-up in last week's loss to Macarthur.

For all their strengths, neither side looks to have the firepower in attack to justify shipping goals so early. Only the bottom five teams have scored less goals than Auckland's 12, including the Phoenix, on 10 - so giving teams a head start is ill-advised.

While it may have been a chastening Christmas send-off for both sides, positives remain. Auckland stay top of the table with none of their closest rivals able to capitalise. The Phoenix saw impressive cameos from youngsters Nathan Walker and Luke Brooke-Smith, which will no doubt hearten Chiefy when thinking about the future. They also had chances - Piper alone could have had a hat-trick on his first start for the club. So there's no need to be a Scrooge just yet.

With both teams facing strugglers in Central Coast and Newcastle next, that Christmas gloom could become New Year cheer if both teams can sort out their slow starts.

In other football news:

• Looking for a reason to be jolly? Then look no further than the Wellington Phoenix's form in the A-League Women. They unwrapped basement club Sydney FC 2-0 courtesy of goals from Grace Jale and Zoe McMeeken to stretch their unbeaten run to four games and move into fifth in the table.
• Tottenham and Liverpool served up a Christmas cracker in the Premier League, with the table toppers eventually coming away with a rampant 6-3 win in North London. Arne Slot's side will now be top at Christmas.
• Everton may be Liverpool's biggest rivals but they did them another favour this week. After holding Arsenal to a stalemate a week ago, they did the same to the Reds' nearest challengers Chelsea this week.
• Arsenal got back among the goals thanks in part to a red hot Gabriel Jesus, who scored twice to make it five in a week, and against the same opposition as well in Crystal Palace.
• It's all a bit gloomy in Manchester though, as City lost again, this time to Aston Villa, while United were ripped to shreds by high-flying Bournemouth at Old Trafford, losing 3-0 to the Cherries.

© Scoop Media

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