Auckland City fall 0-3 to Miramar Rangers

Martin Bueno paved the way for a comfortable victory for Rangers over the reigning continental champions.

Writer by Sports & News Continental | From New Zealand, OFC

Led by coach Kale Herbert since 2023, the Rangers team entered this match without the advantage, which actually belonged to Auckland, who had won Derby in the last round.

The first half started fairly evenly, but halfway through, one of the team's stars, Martin Bueno, opened the scoring with a penalty, and shortly after, the promising Ettema extended the lead.

With expectations of a change in the second half's dynamic, the Auckland team, led by Garriga and De Vries, disappointed, conceding a goal early in the second half to Louis Fenton, a real setback.

Auckland City now sits on 11 points in the standings, fortunate that the league leader had a bye this round and the runner-up lost, while Rangers are only 2 points away from a place in the Grand Final.