Auckland FC have consolidated top spot on the A-League Men table but are counting the cost of a 2-1 win over Macarthur FC as they head into a bye.
Louis Verstraete nodded home a Frances de Vries corner in the 80th minute to give Steve Corica's charges all three points at Go Media Stadium.
But Saturday's hard-fought victory came at a cost, with starting centre-back and Kiwi international Nando Pijnaker forced off with an ankle injury in the 23rd minute.
Auckland (33 points) are five points clear of second-placed Adelaide, who lost to Sydney FC 4-1 on Saturday evening.
They have a two-week break before travelling to face third-placed Western United on February 15 and will hope Pijnaker's injury isn't too serious, given Dan Hall is already sidelined.
"This was the worry with obviously Dan Hall out, that another one goes down ... we don't have a lot of back-up in that department," Corica said.
"I don't know how bad it is. I know he rolled his ankle. So obviously the (transfer) window's still open. We'll just see how bad it is first and then we'll decide what we're gonna do from there."
Verstraete will miss that match after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season late on Saturday.
"That was always going to come sooner or later ... we've got players that can come in but he's been amazing for us," Corica said.
Mile Sterjovski's fourth-placed Bulls (24 points) missed a chance to go third on the table and could drop further.
The Bulls were playing their first game since Jed Drew departed for Austria, with Chris Ikonomidis starting.
Auckland took the lead in the ninth minute when Hiroki Sakai's long throw-in was headed to the near post by a leaping Max Mata, with Neyder Moreno on hand to bundle home.
In the 18th minute, Auckland received a massive let-off when Moreno was ruled not to have fouled Ikonomidis inside the 18-yard box, when it appeared a stonewall penalty.
But the Bulls scored less than a minute later.
Skipper Valere Germain made a super run to reach a wonderful dipping Marin Jakolis ball, forcing a save from Alex Paulsen, with Jake Hollman arriving first at the scene to tap home the rebound.
After Verstraete's header cracked the Bulls' defence, Auckland closed out the game in professional fashion.
"No-one's going to go home early from our games," Corica told Sky Sport NZ with a smile.
"There's a real belief that we'll just keep going to the end."
Macarthur next face Western United at Campbelltown Stadium on February 9.
"It was a difficult game but we will have some players back next week. We signed some new players as well," Germain told Sky Sport NZ.
"We will improve next week at home."
