A goal in the 100th minute saw Auckland FC snatch a 2-2 draw with Adelaide United after Archie Goodwin’s late double appeared to have won it for the home side.
In what was a tense and tight affair, the deadlock was eventually broken in the 66th minute when substitute Neyder Moreno firing home the game’s opening goal less than a minute after coming onto the field.
Adelaide struck back in controversial fashion as forward Archie Goodwin converted from inside the box after good work from Yaya Dukuly, despite replays showing the winger may well have committed a foul in the build-up.
A lengthy VAR check then ensued with referee Alex King ultimately deciding Dukuly’s shirt-pull on defender Callan Elliott wasn’t enough to deny the goal.
Goodwin then bagged his second of the game in dramatic fashion, converting Dylan Pierias’ cross in the 95th minute in what was almost certainly going to send Adelaide United four points clear at the top of the Isuzu UTE A-League ladder.
However with what was essentially the last kick of the game a Francis De Vries corner was headed into the back of the net by substitute Logan Rogerson to secure a point for Auckland FC in the 10th minute of stoppage time.
The result keeps Carl Veart’s side a point clear at the top of the table heading into Round 16 with Auckland FC hot on their heels in second spot.
Clear-cut chances were hard to come by inside the opening 30 minutes as both sides fought for control of the middle third of the pitch.
A constant threat all season down Adelaide’s right, full back Dylan Pierias whipped a dangerous cross into the box which needed to be tipped over by Black Knights keeper Alex Paulsen in what was the first real piece of goal-mouth action.
At the other end, Auckland FC came close to bagging the opening goal of the game seconds before half-time but Max Mata couldn’t connect with Guillermo May’s tantalising ball into the box.
The Black Knights forced Adelaide keeper Ethan Cox into an earlier save after half-time, as he tipped a Nando Pijnaker header over the bar from a corner.
Carl Veart went to his bench first in the 63rd minute, bringing on Archie Goodwin and Yaya Dukuly in an attempt to add some more attacking impetus to the side and they almost took the lead soon after.
A free-kick into the box fell kindly at the feet of Mauk but the midfielder’s powerful effort crashed back off the crossbar and away to safety.
Looking to respond, Black Knights boss Corica turned to his bench and introduced Brimmer and Moreno into the fold and the duo combined within a minute to help break the deadlock.
Winning possession back in the heart of midfield, Brimmer sprang an Auckland counter attack which resulted in Moreno receiving the ball on the edge of the Adelaide area and while his progress was briefly halted, the Colombian then slammed the ball beyond Cox and into the back of the net to make it 1-0.
Now trailing, the Reds set about finding a way back into the clash and levelled things up in the 81st minute as substitutes Dukuly and Goodwin combined for the latter to slot home from inside the box.
A lengthy VAR check then ensued after replays showed Dukuly tugged at the shirt of defender Elliot in the build-up to the goal however referee King deemed the contact not worthy of disallowing the goal and Goodwin’s name remained on the scoresheet.
Now the team in the ascendancy, Adelaide piled forward in search of a winner and they thought they’d found it in the 95th minute.
Galloping down the right, Pierias played the perfect cut-back to Goodwin who slotted the ball home infront of an adoring Red Army sending Coopers Stadium wild with joy.
However it would prove to be short-lived.
Awarded a corner in the 100th minute of the contest, Auckland FC substitute Rogerson was incredibly left unmarked inside the six-yard box and duly nodded home De Vries’ perfect delivery to silence Coopers Stadium and secure his side a hard-fought point.
