(Reuters) – Auckland FC manager Steve Corica said their strong first season in Australia’s A-League is down to the club’s culture and players’ attitude as the New Zealanders bid to become the first new entrant to win the championship in their debut campaign.
Neyder Moreno scored five minutes into stoppage time to earn Auckland a 1-0 victory over Western Sydney Wanderers on Sunday, the club’s ninth win of the campaign, moving them two points clear of Adelaide United at the top.
The result also keeps Auckland on track to become the first expansion side to finish top at the end of the regular season since 2013 when Western Sydney won the Premiers Plate.
“It’s the culture and attitude of the players,” Corica said when asked for the reasons behind his team’s fast start.
“We work hard at training, we drive them really hard physically and I think it shows by the end of the game, we run over a lot of teams in the second half.
“We score late goals and we never give up. It’s becoming a habit, which is good for us and bad for other teams. When you score that late there’s no opportunity to get back into the game.”
Auckland made a blistering start to the season, winning their first six games, before a slump saw them drop out of top spot.
But two wins and a draw in their last three games have returned the side to form and underlined their status as genuine title contenders.
“It’s never going to be clear sailing all the time,” said former Sydney FC coach Corica.
“The owner wants to win (the title), whether it’s this year or next year. We’ve put ourselves in a very good position at the moment to be in the finals.
“What happens after that, we keep working away a game at a time and if we keep performing like that and we keep getting wins like that then we’re going to have a good chance.”
(Reporting by Michael Church in Melbourne, Editing by Peter Rutherford)
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