Harrison Devenish-Meares of Sydney and Logan Rogerson of Auckland compete for possession during the A-League Men Round 26 match between Sydney FC and Auckland FC, at Allianz Stadium, in Sydney on Saturday. Photo: Bianca De Marchi/Photosport
A breathless contest at Allianz Stadium in Sydney has seen Auckland come back from a two-goal deficit against Sydney FC in a gripping 2-2 draw.
Adrian Segecic's magnificent first-half brace set Sydney flying before goals from Logan Rogerson and Francis de Vries earned a potentially valuable point for the visiting Black Knights.
The Sky Blues shook off any hangovers from humidity and jetlag from their midweek loss to Lion City Sailors in Singapore with the perfect tonic from 20-year-old attacker Segecic, who lit up the match with two thunderous strikes in the opening 32 minutes.
His first, a curling effort from the right, left Auckland keeper Alex Paulsen stranded. Just 20 minutes later, a defensive lapse allowed the youngster time to unleash another rocket, moving him level with Adelaide's Archie Goodwin in the A-League scoring charts with 12.
But Rogerson pulled one back almost instantly, smashing home a rebound after a well-worked move from Cam Howieson and Marlee Francois.
The second half belonged to the visitors with de Vries levelling in the 68th minute, after a surging run by captain Hiroki Sakai, on his 35th birthday, whose driven cross was only half-cleared. De Vries pounced, his left-footed strike deflecting past Devenish-Meares to set up a dramatic finale.
Auckland threw everything forward in the final stages and probably should have won it, with Jake Brimmer having a ricocheted effort cleared off the line and Neyder Moreno rattling the post after an almost unbelievable gaffe from the Sydney goalkeeper.
Despite dominating for much of the closing period, Auckland could not find the goal they needed to complete a stunning comeback.
The result leaves Auckland, who face Melbourne Victory next week, just four points clear of Melbourne City in second place with just three games remaining. Meanwhile, Western United can move to within three points of the table-toppers with a win over Western Sydney Wanderers tomorrow night.
Read how the game unfolded with RNZ's live blog:
