Auckland FC travelled to Suncorp Stadium on 30th October 2026 for their Round 3 fixture vs Brisbane Roar.
Auckland FC scored from outside the box in the 11th minute against the run of play and went ahead 1-0 with this strike from Sakai. It was a great first time strike by Sakai to the bottom left corner and it left the GK with very less time to react and get a hand to it.
Defensive improvement for Brisbane Roar is evident, but who is protecting the most dangerous space on the field? Brisbane Roar’s defensive structure has shown signs of improvement, but in this moment – Zone 14 remains an interesting area to examine. It’s quite a common trend during set-pieces – a lot of clearances land in Zone 14 and it was surprising to see the distances between the lines were stretched for the Roar. Could the midfielders have shifted across quicker or may be Brisbane need to look at the positioning of the back 5 & midfield 3 in the future?
There are different ways as to how you can defend this space, it depends on your philosophy as a coach and what you are willing to sacrifice on.
How would your team protect Zone 14 in this scenario?
