The drama came early rather than late at Fred Taylor Park as highly regarded Tefana goalkeeper Xavier Samin was sent packing inside seven minutes when, well beaten by Roy Krishna as he set to fire in the opening goal, he tripped the livewire Fijian from behind and was flashed the inevitable red card.
Allan Pearce quickly converted and the floodgates soon opened.
Ryan de Vries, from a ball played in by Pearce, added the second in as many minutes and by halftime the advantage had stretched to six with Pearce, de Vries and Krishna all on the score sheet twice.
The home team's domination continued in the second half with man of the match Krishna ending his day's work with five and what already looms as an unassailable lead in the race for the Golden Boot.
It is always difficult to judge a team's performance in such a lop-sided contest but coach Neil Emblen would have taken plenty of positives from the match as he looked back on two clean sheets in as many games to open the domestic and O-League seasons.
The absence of the often-searing sun added to the comfort factor for Auckland City as they ran out to play Solomon Islands champions Koloale at the immaculately prepared Tama Lawson Stadium in Honiara.
But there was, as ever, no escaping the cloying conditions. To their credit the City players simply got on with the task at hand in a free-flowing affair which swung from end to end.
A handful of corners failed to produce the breakthrough goal and it was, as had happened earlier in Auckland, a penalty which opened the scoring.
After what appeared a soft challenge by Freddie Kini on Alex Feneridis, Fijian referee Andrew Achari pointed to the spot. Manel Exposito beat Shadrack Ramoni for 1-0. Ten minutes into the second spell, with a good effort on the run, Exposito doubled the visitors' advantage.
Hometown hero Benjamin Totori got one back - also after a dubious penalty call - with 15 minutes to play but City finished the stronger with goals from substitute Emiliano Tade and David Mulligan to complete the scoring.
Happy with the points, City coach Ramon Tribulietx said patience was the key.
"They are tough to play here. They have some skilful players but we were a little lucky with the conditions. They were a team who played with confidence and it was a case for us to be patient and then take the opportunities when they came."
Koloale coach Peter Eke, who rejoined his team just two days before the match, said he was disappointed but conceded the better team had won.
"Auckland City are the best team in the O-League," said Eke. "They set the standard. I am proud of my guys but our morale went down when that first goal from the penalty spot went in. The expectations here are that we should win every game. That is not always realistic."
In a double-header in Auckland on November 19-20, City play Hekari and Waitakere host Ba.
