It looked like the points would be shared as the final whistle approached at the Stade Numa Daly but Spaniard Exposito had other ideas, stepping up to curl the ball around the Magenta wall and past goalkeeper Jean Yan Dounezeck in the 83rd minute to earn a vital victory for the New Zealand side.
The win puts them in a commanding position at the top of Group B – three points ahead of fierce local rivals Waitakere United, who suffered a 3-1 loss away to Tahiti’s Tefana in their last O-League outing – and is a timely confidence boost ahead of their key clash with United on Sunday.
A win for Waitakere in that match is now a must if they are to hang onto their hopes of topping the group and booking a place in the final.
Tonight’s loss leaves New Caledonia champions Magenta at the foot of the table but they are level on points with Tefana and just one behind second-placed Waitakere.
They were originally scheduled to meet Auckland City at home on Saturday 5 February but the match had to be postponed until today due to the unsuitability of the Stade Numa Daly to host such a fixture at that time.
Magenta fans would have been pleased their side was finally able to take the field against Auckland tonight after a bright opening that saw them carve out a couple of good opportunities for Cesar Lolohea and Georges Gope-Fenepej.
But it wasn’t all one-way traffic and the visitors had a strong appeal for a penalty turned down before the teams went into the sheds with the score locked at nil-all. City largely had goalkeeper Jacob Spoonley to thank for that as the former All White pulled off some excellent saves during a man-of-the-match performance.
Both sides enjoyed plenty of the ball during a hard-fought second half but Magenta were left to rue those earlier missed chances when Exposito produced his moment of magic in the dying moments.
The goal was Exposito’s second strike in as many games – he was also on target in City’s 2-0 over Team Wellington in the ASB Premiership just over a week ago.
Coach Alain Moizan and his Magenta men will now look to regroup and try to get their O-League campaign back on track with a positive result from their trip to Tefana on Friday night.
Tefana – Auckland City Match Summary click here
2011 O-League Match Day Four Results
Tefana: 3 (Lorenzo TEHAU 20′, Alvin TEHAU 30′, Axel WILLIAMS 90′ + 1′)
Waitakere United: 1 (Allan PEARCE [PEN] 45′ + 2′)
Half-time: 2-1
Friday 4 February
Stade Louis Ganivet
Papeete, Tahiti
Amicale: 3 (Alick MAEMAE [PEN] 39′, Dereck MALAS 51′, Fenedy MASAUVAKALO 74′)
Hekari United: 3 (Osea VAKATALESAU 58′, 87′, Malakai TIWA 90′ + 4′)
Half-time: 1-0
Saturday 5 February
PVL Stadium
Port Vila, Vanuatu
Lautoka: 1 (Valerio NAWATU 10′)
Koloale: 6 (Jeffery BULE 19′ [PEN], George SURI 25′, Benjamin TOTORI 29′, 62′, 77′ [PEN], Ezra SALE 52′)
Half-time: 1-3
Saturday 5 February
Churchill Park
Lautoka, Fiji
Magenta: 0
Auckland City: 1 (Manel EXPOSITO 83′)
Half-time: 0-0
Monday 21 February
Stade Numa Daly
Noumea, New Caledonia