Union fire up

Union Buenos Aires survived an early scare before sweeping past Harbour City to surge three points clear at the top of the table following the latest round of games in the Global Premier Football League. The jockeying for positions below them continued, with a series of close results keeping the title race interesting. Toronto Athletic prop up the table after another disappointing defeat.

ROUND 11 ROUND-UP

A massive upset appeared to be unfolding at the Monumental as Union found themselves two down inside the opening 20 minutes against their visitors from Sydney. But a brace before the break by young starlet Elian Corral, in his first start for Union, set up a comeback, that appeared complete when Rico Cocci, inevitably, hit the back of the net midway through the second half. The visitors hit the woodwork only moments before Sebastiano Cruz doubled Union’s lead, before the points were secured right on full time.

Esportivo Rio twice came from behind to grab a point against still unbeaten, London City FC. City marksman, Mark Ives, scored a fine double, but the visitors couldn’t quite see it out. Substitute, Xabier Ballester, grabbed a fine individual goal with six minutes of regulation time remaining to maintain Rio’s unbeaten run and title challenge.

Paris Metro pushed themselves into fourth after a narrow, come-from-behind, victory over Olympia Munchen. Andre Peters netted his twelfth of the season to give Olympia the lead, midway through the first half. But he was soon in the book, then had to be subbed off not long after Metro pulled themselves level. Missing Peters’ attacking guile, the visitors struggled. Metro’s winner, scored just before the hour mark by Antenor Nakamura, was almost as inevitable as it was lethal.

There were 1-1 draws in both LA and Istanbul, which didn’t really help any of the four teams involved. Neto Guimaraes pushed the LA Icons in front, but Ciudad de Madrid were level on half time through youngster, Elias Rohrbach. Aral Akkas hammered home with ten minutes remaining to give Constantinople FC a share of the points, after Marina Bay Flyers looked set to pull of a classic smash and grab.

Eternal Roma‘s recent inconsistent run continued at Johannesburg Rush, but they held on to secure a vital three points after their hosts threatened a late comeback. Shanghai Pearl appeared to do it easy as they cruised past bottom side, Toronto Athletic. Albert-Jan Stroek‘s opener for Shanghai was arrowed home from distance, and from then there was only going to be one winner.

A goal from Dennis Velez ten minutes after the break was enough to give New York Capitals victory over al-Qāhirah Stars and move them into the top half of the table. The Capitals are level on points with Tokyo-Yokohama United, who survived a late scare against Emirates United. Richard Casey‘s tenth goal of the season, not long before half time, ended up being the difference.

CF Azteca picked up a much needed three points in Hong Kong, thanks in large part to a Marcelo Kimura double. The Traders were level briefly, but Kimura’s second goal put Azteca back in front before Teodor Mezquita completed the job with ten minutes remaining.

CURRENT STANDINGS

UPCOMING FIXTURES

GPFL STAT ATTACK

AL-QAHIRAH STARS

CF AZTECA

CIUDAD DE MADRID

CONSTANTINOPLE FC

ESPORTIVO RIO

ETERNAL ROMA

HARBOUR CITY

HONG KONG TRADERS

LA ICONS

LONDON CITY FC

MARINA BAY FLYERS

NEW YORK CAPITALS

PARIS METROPOLE

SHANGHAI PEARL

TOKYO YOKOHAMA UNITED

TORONTO ATHLETIC