AUCKLAND –YoungHeart Manawatu will take a two-goal cushion to Auckland next Sunday after a thrilling 3-1 win over Auckland City in the first leg of their New Zealand Football Championship semi-final in Palmerston North on Sunday.

They’ll be without influential midfielder Raf de Gregorio and striker Gustavo Saralegui for the return leg however; as both were sent off for second bookings as Manawatu played a gutsy final 35 minutes with just nine men.

The score was 2-0 when a Manawatu lost their first player four minutes before halftime, when Uruguyan striker Gustavo Saralegui chipped Auckland goalkeeper Jacob Spoonley from the halfway line and then received a caution – and his marching orders – for removing his shirt while celebrating the sublime goal.

In a day he won’t easily forget, Saralegui also created Manawatu’s first goal, clipping a hurried Spoonley clearance back onto the crossbar, with Jason Hayne on hand to score the first of his two goals with a diving header just before the half hour mark.

Auckland finally broke through a resilient YoungHeart rearguard effort with 14 minutes left on the clock when Grant Young headed what could yet be a vital away goal, but Hayne restored the two-goal margin in the 80th minute as a desperate home side then clung to their lead.

Waitakere will also take a valuable away goal home to Auckland in the second leg of their semi-final next Saturday, but unlike their neighbours they also have the lead after a tense 1-0 win over Team Wellington at Newtown Park on Saturday evening.

Fijian flyer Roy Krishna capitalised on a defensive error in the 69th minute, just when pressure from the home side looked like swinging the pendulum in Wellington’s favour.

Karl Whalen headed a ball back to goalkeeper James Bannatyne softer than he would’ve liked and Krishna slipped in and slotted the opening goal.

Wellington weathered an early storm from the minor premiers yet it was Waitakere who soaked up most of the pressure in the middle stages, found the winner and killed the game off late on.

Wellington now need to inflict a rare home defeat on Waitakere in the return leg next weekend to progress to the March 29 grand final while Auckland have a more complicated task. They need to beat Manawatu by a three-goal margin or exactly 2-0 to progress, while a 3-1 Auckland win would take the game to extra time.

For Manawatu, a win, draw, defeat by just one goal, or even a high scoring loss by two goals would see them through.

Story and photo courtesy of NZF Media

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