Pijnaker looked to clear deep and wide of his own box but was intercepted and a few quick passes into the box found Ruhs for the opener.
Auckland FC and Perth Glory are the only two sides to have failed to win a game this season after conceding the opening goal. But Auckland FC barely had time to take stock of overcoming that stat before they gave up another goal. Four minutes later the home side doubled their lead from a corner with Noah Botic heading home for his 12th goal of the campaign.
Maybe a day off or two to celebrate the premier title was showing for the Black Knights. It wasn’t until the 38th minute before Auckland FC had their first shot on goal when Logan Rogerson’s half volley was denied by Matt Sutton.
Western United continued their dominance after the break with a cross over the top of the backline causing trouble. Pijnaker attempted to clear but deflected the ball into the path of Angus Thurgate who had no trouble getting it by Paulsen.
It took until the 62nd minute before Auckland responded, substitute Neyder Moreno followed a rebound off his own corner to make it 3-1, his eighth of the season, with a fine strike inside the post. Jesse Randall added a second in injury time to give Auckland a brief hope of a draw before Oliver Lavale scored Western United’s fourth a minute later.
Melbourne City’s 5-1 win over Sydney FC saw them earn second in commanding fashion, and will feel much better about their week off. Western Utd host Adelaide Utd while Western Sydney and Melbourne Victory will meet in the other elimination final, with the host to be decided following the weekend’s action. Auckland will face the lowest ranked side in the semifinals, which means a potential rematch with Western United would have to wait until the grand final.
Auckland FC have already wrapped the top seed for the A-League playoffs up, hoisting the Premiers Plate on home soil last weekend with a win over Perth.
That sees this weekend’s clash away to Western United as little more than a hit-out for Steve Corica’s side as they now turn their attention to going on with the job in the knockout stages of the competition.
Western United have plenty to play for still. While they have locked up a spot in the playoffs, they go into the final weekend of the regular season with the chance to sneak into second on the ladder. That would, however, depend on an earlier fixture between current second-placed team Melbourne City and Sydney FC.
City are one point above Western, but with a slightly worse goal differential. A win over Sydney would secure City the second seed, while any dropped points would open the door for Western.
As Michael Burgess wrote in his report of Auckland FC’s win over Perth, Corica and his men have already achieved a bit of a miracle and there could be a lot more to come.
Just over six months ago they played the first match of their existence – in bright sunshine, in front of a capacity crowd – and eked out a 2-0 win over Brisbane Roar. No one knew where the season would go from there but it couldn’t have gone any better.
Though there is a long way to go from here, Auckland will be favourites for the A-League championship, especially as they will play the grand final at home, if they can progress from the legged semi-final next month.
They are on a long unbeaten streak – now at 14 – and have a strong defensive base and no lack of offensive options, though they haven’t been completely fluid over the last six weeks.
