From Knights to Kings - 7 key moments that brought Auckland FC A-League glory

Analysis: From Kingz to Knights, to exiles, to Knights again - and now, Kings once more - it's been quite the journey for Auckland FC. After a history of failed professional football ventures in New Zealand's largest city, the Black Knights have stunned everyone by claiming the Premier's Plate in their very first season.

It's an ascension to the throne even George R.R. Martin couldn't have imagined. But this is no fairytale. There are no dragons here, only perhaps a slain Phoenix.

So, on the pitch, what were the key moments that led to Sunday's coronation at Mount Smart?

Nando's back-heel beauty

With all due respect to Brisbane Roar, Auckland's opening-day win over the Queenslanders was almost expected. Roared on by their new fanbase, a debut victory felt inevitable against a side that has since gone on to struggle.

But when centre-back Nando Pijnaker improvised a backheel beyond the goal-line of Sydney's viral goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne, it suddenly felt very real - this Auckland side had something about them.

They had just beaten the league's most successful team, and in dramatic fashion. It was still early days, but a statement had been made.

Wellington's welcome gift

The first Kiwi Clasico was dragging towards a hard-fought but anticlimactic 0-0 draw when goalkeeper Joshua Oluwayemi's moment of madness gifted Jake Brimmer the chance to open the scoring. Brimmer would strike again minutes later as the Black Knights claimed bragging rights at Sky Stadium.

It set the tone for the rivalry between New Zealand's two sides, with Auckland winning 2-1 in their next meeting, before that now-infamous 6-1 hammering in February.

But that first win showed Auckland could match, and beat, their more established domestic rivals.

Moreno mayhem

For the first time in their history, Auckland found themselves trailing, and against a Melbourne City side who would go on to become their biggest challengers. After levelling the scores, a calamitous second goal for City had Auckland staring down the barrel of their first A-League defeat. That was until Neyder Moreno's 90th-minute free-kick proved too hot to handle for Patrick Beach.

It set a blueprint for the 'Late Knights', who would go on to score crucial last-minute goals against Adelaide United and Western Sydney in the weeks that followed.

Take away the goals scored in second-half stoppage time, and Auckland would be nine points worse off this season, sitting on 44 points, level with Western United in third.

Moments like Moreno's proved decisive.

Bouncebackability in Gosford

Just one week after suffering their first defeat of the season, an unceremonious, bubble-bursting 4-0 home loss to Western United, the Black Knights dusted themselves off and swept aside the team they would eventually replace as Premiers.

The 4-1 win over the Central Coast Mariners proved they could recover from setbacks, a resilience underlined by a 14-game unbeaten streak following their only other loss, a 1-0 reverse at Perth Glory.

Three minutes of magic

Guillermo May's piledriver from range and Max Mata's tap-in earned a revenge win over fellow title challengers Western United at the end of a blustery first half in Victoria. The threat of a shift in the title race was blown away, as Auckland rubber stamped their championship credentials.

Precious Paulsen moment

Not that one. Yes, Alex Paulsen did make a world-class save on the way to a crucial 2-0 win over Melbourne Victory, but his penalty save against the Jets might have been even more important. Auckland were rocking against an in-form side before Paulsen kept out Kostas Grozos' effort from 12 yards.

Jesse Randall went on to equalise shortly after, but had Auckland lost this game, their rivals would have been ready to pounce.

Fightback in Sydney

Trailing 2-0 to a pair of Adrian Segecic wondergoals, Steve Corica's men produced one of their best performances of the season to fight back and claim a vital 2-2 draw at their head coach's old stomping ground.

In truth, they should have won, in what might well have been the best game of the A-League season.

It was a performance that showed all the hallmarks of champions, something Auckland became just two weeks later.

In other football news:

Wellington Phoenix's A-League season is petering out after a 1-0 loss to fellow strugglers Brisbane Roar. Giancarlo Italiano will rightly get an opportunity to rebuild the team for next season after being given a new deal. Two players who won't be with him are Sam Sutton and Scott Wootton, who seem bound for Perth Glory.

There will be no FA Cup final for Chris Wood. His Nottingham Forest side were bested 2-0 by Manchester City. Last season's runners-up will face Crystal Palace in the final, after the Eagles hammered Aston Villa in the other semi-final.

Liverpool are Premier League champions. A 5-1 romp over Spurs secured the trophy in front of an impassioned Anfield fanbase - just rewards for supporters, who missed out on such celebrations in their last Premier League win during the Covid-19 lockdowns.

Ipswich Town have been relegated from the Premier League following a heavy defeat to Newcastle United. It means, for the second season in a row, all three promoted sides have been relegated straight back to the second tier.