All Whites outclass India with 5-0 victory in Auckland

New Zealand's football series against India is part of the celebration of a century of sporting contests between the two nations, but the home side showed little mercy in a 5-0 victory on Thursday night in Auckland.Returning home for the first time since the World Cup, the All Whites starting side was primarily A-League players, alongside captain and English Premier League player Chris Wood.Wood played a part in confusing India's defence in the fifth minute, which lead to the opening goal of the game to New Zealand off an Indian defender.The All Whites had several more opportunities in the first half an hour that they failed to capitalise on, including a sitter for Logan Rogerson.Indian goalkeeper Vishal Kaith pulled off several top saves to keep his side in the contest and make the All Whites find different ways to get past him in the first half.Jesse Randall, who scored for Scottish club side Dundee United at the weekend, continued that form for his country, when he added New Zealand's second and his fourth in an All Whites shirt in the 34th minute.Randall scored his second less than 10 minutes later, after some good hustle in the box by former Auckland clubmate Francis de Vries, who had initially crossed the ball to set up Wood.By halftime, the All Whites had their highest score against India, after beating them 2-1 in 2018 and drawing 0-0 in 1981.India made five changes to start the second half, whereas the home side went unchanged.Wood finally scored his first goal of the game just before the hour mark, with a header, after a spell of struggling to score for club or country.Just after the captain's goal took the score to 4-0, the All Whites made five changes, with Wellington Phoenix defender Matt Sheridan coming on to make his debut.Corban Piper and Nathan Walker also made their debuts, when they were subbed on in the 73rd minute.The All Whites' fifth goal came for Lachie Bayliss, after he had been threatening to score all night.New Zealand had a chance to extend the lead from the penalty spot, but in his 50th match, Bill Tuiloma's shot was saved.The second game of the series is in Christchurch on Sunday and will end All Whites coach Darren Bazeley's tenure.See how the game unfolded in our blog:Embedded content removed for printing