Auckland City have reached another final at the OFC Champions League but only after winning a tense semi-final against Ifira Black Bird in a penalty shoot-out after extra time.
Trailing 0-2 after an hour, the 10-time OFC champions faced a shock elimination from the 2023 tournament in Vanuatu.
Substitute Ryan De Vries scored twice, his second in the fourth minute of stoppage time, to force the game into extra time.
The 10-man Ifira side — having lost a player to a double booking in the 74th minute — hung on to force the game to a penalty shoot-out.
Auckland City will play Fiji’s Suva in the final on Saturday May 27 (3pm NZT).
READ MORE: Auckland City scrape through semi-final on penalties at OFC Champions League >>>>
Result
Semi-finals
Game played on Wednesday May 24, 2023
Auckland City 2 (Ryan De Vries 69′, 90+3′)
Ifira Black Bird 2 (Kerry Iawak 41′, Godine Tenene 60′)
*Auckland win 5-4 on penalties after extra time.
Match highlights
Here are five minutes of edited highlights from this entertaining game:
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