Auckland FC's Max Mata. A-League Men, Round 15, Auckland FC v Melbourne City FC, Go Media Stadium. Photo: Photosport
A late first half blitz has got Auckland FC back in the winner's column, blanking first placed Melbourne FC 3-0.
Auckland broke their recent form slump with a dominant effort to leapfrog Melbourne back to the top of the table.
The Black Knights hammered home three goals in a blistering 15 minutes of football to knock over the A-League table toppers at Mount Smart.
Guillermo May, Nando Pijnaker Max Mata all bagged goals in the first stanza, as the home side registered a seventh clean sheet in their debut season.
With regular captain Hiroki Sakai out injured, Tommy Smith took the armband and told Sky Sport while it was satisfying to break their scoring drought, it was just as pleasing to keep Melbourne scoreless.
"It's not just us at the back, we defend from the front as a team, together as one, and as long as we do that we will have success on the pitch.
"We had to bounce back after the poor result last week, and we did that today, every man put a shift in, we won our individual battles and we took our chances."
Smith admitted to a slight slump since their strong start to the season.
"The last five games weren't as good so we knew we had to pick it back up again, that was the mantra all week, out working opposition, out-fighting opposition and I think we did that in the first half."
After half an hour of relatively uneventful play, the match ignited in the 33rd with a stunning strike courtesy of May.
Created through some slick interplay between Louis Verstraete and Logan Rogerson, May unleashed a glorious strike from 20 metres out, netting it in the top left corner to sent the home crowd into raptures.
Before they could catch their breath, they were celebrating a second, again in scintillating style as Pijnaker thundered one in to put his side in control.
The hosts weren't done though, and two minutes into added time, Auckland drove the knife in further with a third as half-time loomed, Mata the beneficiary of a scrambled cross to seal the deal before the break.
Debutant Marlee Francois came close to a goal within minutes of entering the match, but Auckland couldn't find a fourth, content with an emphatic first 45.
Scorers:
Auckland 3 (May 33' Pijnaker 41', Mata 47'
Melbourne 0
