Auckland FC's unbeaten start to life in the A-League Men (ALM) competition has been brought to a crashing halt after they slumped to a shock 4-0 home defeat to Western United.
United were 3-0 up inside 34 minutes on Saturday at Go Media Stadium in Auckland following goals to Riku Danzaki, Noah Botic and Hiroshi Ibusuki.
Matthew Grimaldi put the icing on the cake in the 87th minute as Western United, who beat Sydney FC 4-3 last week, moved into the top six.
It marked a remarkable plummet in fortunes for expansion side Auckland, who had posted wins in their first six ALM games before twice coming from behind to draw with Melbourne City 2-2 last week.
The Black Knights had conceded just three goals across 10.5 hours of action during their first seven games.
But that stingy defensive record was blown out the water as United cashed in with three first-half goals in front of 13,681 shell shocked fans.
"It was our home game and our performance was so bad," Auckland captain Hiroki Sakai told Sky Sports.
"0-4 is such a disappointing result. I was so embarrassed. For this crowd, we have to give them three points for our next game."
Western United only had 39 per cent possession in the first half, but were by far the dominant side as they unleashed 13 shots to five.
The visitors were gifted a penalty in the 16th minute following a handball in the box, and Danzaki made no mistake with the finish.
Auckland goalkeeper Alex Paulsen did well to block Ibusuki's close-range effort in the 23rd, but Botic was on hand to put away the rebound with an acrobatic shoulder-height swinging boot.
The home fans squarely blamed referee Casey Reibelt for United's third goal.
Reibelt got in the way of Auckland midfielder Jake Brimmer with Tomoki Imai pickicking off the pass and racing forward before finding Ibusuki, who shook off a defender to nail his low strike.
Auckland were the better side in the second half, but they still couldn't find a way through Western United's disciplined defence.
"First half we didn't turn up. We started slowly, they got on top," Auckland coach Steve Corica said.
"If you don't turn up in the first half, you're not going to win any football games."
United coach John Aloisi was thrilled with the win.
"That first-half performance was outstanding," he said.
"We dominated with and without the ball. It was 3-0 deservedly, maybe it could have been more.
"In the second half, we had to weather a bit of a storm, and the young boys showed resilience.
"This is the best Christmas present, because only a few weeks ago when we played Victory (in a 3-1 loss) it was my daughter's 21st and I was an angry man.
"So now at least my daughters will be happy that I"m a happy man."
