Auckland FC have extended their winning A-League run to six games, despite finally having their goal breached in a pulsating 2-1 win over Kiwi rivals Wellington Phoenix at Go Media Stadium Mt Smart.

An own goal off the head of Phoenix defender Isaac Hughes and a header from Black Knights defender Nando Pijnaker gave the home side a clear lead after 70 minutes, but the visitors finished strongly over the final stages, as striker Kosta Barbarouses finally got the better of his running battle with former teamate Alex Paulsen, ending his run of clean sheets and setting up a highly charged climax.

In front of a record regular season crowd of 26,253 — almost inevitably just one more than the previous mark held by the Phoenix — the two NZ sides took their young rivalry to another level, as the Knights consolidated their spot atop the Aussie league table, with the Phoenix just outside the top four.

Auckland welcomed back skipper Hiroki Sakai, who missed last week’s win over Newcastle Jets with injury, while the Phoenix were able to include defenders Tim Payne and Sam Sutton. Sakai would ultimately have a major influence on the outcome.

From the kickoff, the home side camped in the attacking third and Pijnaker had the first real chance, turning sharply on the ball during a goalmouth scramble, but seeing his left-foot effort blocked by Phoenix captain Alex Rufer.

Wellington broke to the other end and Sutton floated a pass across goal, but nobody was there to threaten Paulsen. Babarouses dispossessed the Auckland defence on the edge of the box and midfielder Paulo Retre lofted one to the far post, but Paulsen rose high to beat defender Isaac Hughes to the ball.

Auckland lost the services of important midfielder Louis Verstraete to injury after 20 minutes.

Barbarouses and Paulsen collided heavily in the goalmouth, as the keeper climbed to martial a misdirected header from a defender, but both bounced back to their feet. Moments later, Phoenix defender Scott Wootton also contacted Paulsen, who stayed down a little longer this time.

Paulsen and Sutton came together, as the visitors continued to pressure their former custodian, but despite their attacks, Wellington were soon to become the architects of their own demise. Just after half an hour, Sakai slipped behind the defence and his bullet cross was deflected into the net off Hughes’ head.

Phoenix keeper Josh Oluwayemi was well behind Filipe Gallegos’ left-foot shot from point blank range. With halftime looming, the visitors did well to defuse a dangerous free-kick from Jake Brimmer, who also rifled a long-range shot just wide of the right post.

Striker Guillermo May launched a left-foot effort at goal, but this time, Hughes’ head saved the day, glancing it away for a corner. At the break, Auckland had dominated attack stats, with 12-3 shots and six of them blocked.

Two minutes after the restart, striker Hideki Ishige unleashed a bending right foot that had Paulsen beaten, but drifted beyond the far post. At the other end, Rufer felled Brimmer on the edge of the area and Brimmer’s right-foot free-kick was over the wall, but wide of the left post.

Tensions were rising, as Cam Howieson earned a yellow card for a crude challenge, then Sakai had a few choice words for Retre, already carrying a yellow, as the two clashed.

Wellington continued to chase the equaliser, inserting veteran forward Marco Rojas into the fray, while Barbarbouses earned yellow for his second late charge on Paulsen. May broke deep into Phoenix territory, but had his shot squeezed by Wootten and a rapidly retreating Hughes.

Auckland eventually doubled their lead, when Sakai sent a towering free-kick into the goalmouth and Pijnaker popped up on the far post to nod past Oluwayemi.

Sutton almost ended Paulsen’s perfect record, when he forced a reflex save, then midfielder Matt Sheridan was surprised by the rebound at his feet and couldn’t do enough with the opportunity.

Rufer drew yellow, when he put the boot into former Phoenix junior Luis Toomey, who had taunted Oluwayemi for his mistake that leaked a goal in the teams’ first meeting.

Into the final 10 minutes, Auckland’s ‘Port’ fanbase hijacked the traditional ‘Yellow Fever’ victory celebration, taking their shirts off in their joy.

Just a tad soon, as it turned out.

Barbarouses finally had his revenge on Paulsen, breaking clear of the defence and slotting his shot past the custodian to end his run of clean sheets and change the entire complexion of the contest.

After the restart, Phoenix sub Stefan Colakovski charged after a through ball and took Paulsen’s clearing kick to the head, but deflected wide of the sticks. Barbarouses probed again and tumbled between two defenders to no avail.

As emotions ran high, Phoenix coach Giancarlo Italiano earned his team’s sixth yellow card of the game.

"We shot ourselves in the foot a little bit," reflected Rufer. "Auckland are a good team and we were punished today.

"They're very physical, so we knew we had to match them there. Derbies are always physical anyway, but a few lapses in concentration cost us and you can't do that against a good team like Auckland."

Auckland had one last shot, as Neyder Moreno rifled a right foot goalward to force a spectacular save from Oluwayemi, but time ran out before the resulting corner could take place.

"We knew they were going to come and try to get revenge for the game at their place," said Auckland veteran Tommy Smith. "They gave us a really good game today and were much improved from the game before, but we clung on for the win and that's the main thing.

"We both gave as good as we got, but sometimes you get away with things early on in games — and I think they did — that might have been yellow cards later."

Ahead of the game, fans on each side of the highly anticipated contest packed bars in Auckland in the hours leading up to kick-off.

Streets around the CBD also rang to the sound of team chanting as groups of fans marched through the city, with noise levels increasing when opposing groups crossed paths.

1News also observed good-natured banter during encounters between the two camps.

Thousands of game goers headed out of the CBD well before kick-off, taking public transport and delivering Go Media Mt Smart Stadium a record attendance of more than 26,000 for a regular season A-League game in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Unsurprisingly, fans were divided over the likely victor.

Now five points clear at the top of the competition, the Black Knights visit third-placed Melbourne City next Sunday, while the Phoenix, eight points adrift in fifth, host MacArthur FC on Saturday.

The two rivals meet again at the same venue on February 22.

Auckland FC 2 (own goal, Pijnaker) Wellington Phoenix 1 (Barbarouses)

Additional reporting by Nicole Bremner