Auckland FC twice came from behind to earn a point from their 2-2 draw with Melbourne City in an enthralling Isuzu Ute A-League encounter watched by 5482 fans at AAMI Park, netting their second equaliser in the fifth minute of stoppage time, having had an earlier goal controversially ruled out by the Video Assistant Referee. The visitors were without regular starters Dan Hall and Louis Verstraete for this match, and it showed, as City dominated possession in the first spell, but crucially did very little of note with it. The first thing of note they did do was take the lead in the eighteenth minute - but only after Jake Brimmer had fired a twenty-five yard free-kick narrowly over the crossbar seconds earlier, the first attempt on goal either side had mustered to this point in proceedings. From the resulting goal-kick, Kai Trewin sent the ball forward to Medin Memeti, whose round-the-corner pass allowed Yonatan Cohen to cut in from the right and unleash a shot which Alex Paulsen parried well, diverting the ball well away from goal. Harry Politidis picked up the pieces and sent Andreas Kuen scurrying through the inside left channel, from where he delivered a cross to the near post. Acting on instinct, Memeti darted in to divert the ball goalwards, guiding it beyond Paulsen and into the net via the far upright. Remarkably, that was Melbourne's last shot of note until five minutes before half-time, when Hiroki Sakai blocked a Kuen shot, with Paulsen grabbing the rebound. In between times, City had dominated the ball, aided to some extent by Auckland, who were guilty of cheaply conceding hard-earned possession with stray passes, particularly when playing out from the back. Before the interval, Paulsen tipped a Nathaniel Atkinson effort over the bar, one of the few occasions when the fullback managed to escape the attentions of Liam Gillion, the one shining light of the visitors' first half display, during which he regularly roasted Atkinson with his driving runs down the left. Pijnaker stepped in to prevent Steven Ugarkovic's clever back-heel from reaching Cohen, after the pair had combined with Trewin on the right. The final act of the half saw Guillermo May go close to equalising for Auckland, which would have been very much against the run of play had it materialised. Patrick Beach ensured that it didn't, saving solidly. Where Auckland were having major problems was in midfield, where debutant Finn McKenlay simply wasn't up to this level of play - he was well out of his depth, and Steve Corica didn't have Cameron Howieson to call upon either. So he made some changes, one of which saw McKenlay replaced for the second half by Neyder Moreno … and all of a sudden, the visitors were in business. Within three minutes of the resumption of play, Gillion took on all-comers in City's penalty area, but couldn't get a shot away. Two minutes later, Francis de Vries fired a twenty-five yard free-kick past the post. But when he delivered a corner to the same post three minutes later, he found the unmarked figure of May racing in to meet it. A bullet header duly crashed into the back of the net - 1-1. Game on! Having just drawn level, Auckland were looking at Paulsen rather strangely in the 55th minute, as he directed a pass straight to Cohen, just outside the area. Thankfully, Pijnaker was able to recover the situation, but worse was to follow for the two All Whites, later in the contest. Twenty minutes into the half, Gillion sent a shot soaring over the bar after May had done well to win the ball in the air. Melbourne responded through Ugarkovic, who raced through and drilled home

beyond Paulsen, only for the offside flag to come to Auckland's rescue. Having had a warning shot fired across their bows, the visitors came back at Melbourne with a vengeance, with only a vital clearance by substitute Zane Schreiber preventing a Felipe Gallegos cross from reaching its intended target, after de Vries and Moreno had combined to play in their team-mate in the 73rd minute. The resulting corner saw Brimmer deliver the ball to the near post. The ball was punched off Sakai's head by Beach, straight back to Brimmer, who invited de Vries to whip in a cross. He did, with bells on, the unmarked figure of Moreno heading home delightedly from four yards. Auckland were delighted, understandably so, having come from behind to take the lead. But their joy was short-lived, as the Video Assistant Referee deemed that Brimmer had been offside when receiving the ball punched out by Beach. The fact there were two defenders on the line covering the posts at the moment the ball was punched seems to have been overlooked by VAR official Kris Griffiths-Jones, who has previous when it comes to making strange interpretations of situations where NZ teams are concerned, as Wellington Phoenix can well testify. Add another exhibit to the case for the prosecution. Melbourne were mightily relieved to be back on level terms, but in the 79th minute, Auckland gifted them the lead. Pijnaker played the ball back to Paulsen, who was deceived by a wicked bobble just as he was about to kick clear. Alas for the goalkeeper, the back of the net was the next stop for the ball - 2-1 Melbourne, courtesy a Pijnaker "oggie". (Why did he commit the schoolboy error of playing the ball back inside the confines of the goal?) It was all on for young and old now, with Auckland chasing the game, and Melbourne looking to seal it, thus inflicting upon the league leaders their first defeat of the campaign. Five minutes from time, Moreno headed a Brimmer corner narrowly past the far post, to which City responded via a neat move involving substitutes Ben Mazzeo and Arion Sulemani, whose cross-shot beat Paulsen but crept narrowly past the post, as the game moved into stoppage time. Ten minutes of this ended up being applied by referee Ben Abraham, and in the fifth of them, Auckland produced a superb equaliser. Having squandered a free-kick seconds earlier, Brimmer gave Moreno first dibs on this set-piece, awarded for a foul just outside the area. How Melbourne were made to pay for this stupid foul to concede, with May running away from goal when Atkinson brought him down. Moreno stepped up and hit an absolute bullet which stunned Beach, tearing through his hands and into the roof of the net to afford Auckland a thoroughly deserved equaliser - it would have been a travesty had they lost, make no mistake. Their winning start to the season may have stopped at six, but they remain top of the Isuzu Ute A-League, undefeated after seven rounds of play, and still boasting the best defensive record in the competition. Little wonder their fans were singing "We Are Top Of The League!" well before the final whistle. Melbourne:     Beach; Atkinson, Trewin, Souprayen, Behich; Cohen (Talbot, 83), Ugarkovic, Jeggo (Schreiber, 67 (booked, 90)), Kuen; Memeti (Sulemani, 83), Politidis (Mazzeo, 67) Auckland:     Paulsen; Elliot (booked, 59 (Smith, 90)), Sakai, Pijnaker, de Vries (Galloway, 84); Gallegos, Brimmer, McKenlay (booked, 13 (Moreno, 46)); Rogerson (Toomey, 84), May, Gillion (Mata, 84) Referee:     Ben Abraham