Goals galore

The top two keep rolling along, as both Union Buenos Aires and London City FC completed victories by identical score lines in the latest round of the Global Premier Football League. Emirates United and Harbour City moved into the top half, off the back of contrasting narrow wins, while Toronto Athletic lifted themselves off the foot of the table after upsetting Tokyo-Yokohama United.

ROUND 12 ROUND-UP

Union will be counting the cost of their relatively routine win at Marina Bay Flyers. Diego Santander‘s first half double, was followed by his fifth booking of the season, which will see him miss the next match through suspension. Ricardo Canales had earlier picked up his fifth yellow card while substitute, Antonio Tapia’s late sending off means a third suspension for Union to deal with. But their squad is deep, so they should have enough cover to ensure their run of results continue. Sebastiano Cruz, with his eighth goal of the campaign, secured the points after the Flyers had halved the deficit early in the second half. 

Joseph Texier and Mark Ives gave London City a two goal buffer over Shanghai Pearl at Wembley to effectively secure the points b half time. Substitute, Okafo Akuchi, increased the margin with just over ten minutes remaining, keeping City in second and, after the latest set of results, as the only unbeaten side in the 2023/24 GPFL.

Olympia Munchen managed to deal with the absence of Andre Peters, with a good performance that got them past Hong Kong Traders and up in to third on the table. Peters’ replacement, Borje Lindqvist, scored Olympia’s second just after half time, and from there it was a bit of a doddle as the Traders struggled against their host’s well organised defensive shape.

Eternal Roma and Paris Metro shared the points from what was, to most neutral observers, the match of the round. The teams split four goals during a busy first half, before Tommaso Baresi put Roma ahead midway through the second. Tim Ludwig, back in the Metro starting line-up after a spell on the bench, drew the scores level not long after. With plenty of time to find a winner, both sides hit the woodwork in what remained an open game, but it ended up finishing all square.

Emirates United and Harbour City both picked up wins to move into the top half of a table that remains remarkably congested – only six points separate the bottom thirteen sides. Guiherme de Freitas‘ goal seven minutes into the second half was the difference as United edged past New York Capitals, while City survived a late scare to hold on in what had mostly been a dominant performance. The Sydneysiders were three up with 51 minutes on the clock, thanks to Geert-Jan de Walle‘s first half double and Patrik Terzic‘s spot kick. With the game seemingly over, Johannesburg Rush struck twice in the closing stages to take some of the gloss off the evening for the home side’s fans.

Upset results were the order of the day in Cairo, Mexico City and Toronto.

After defeating Union earlier in the season, al-Qāhirah Stars was at it again, handing the LA Icons their first defeat of the season. Flavio van Overstraeten headed home on the half hour, which was enough for the defensively minded Stars against an Icons side that had plenty of shots, but few on target. It was LA’s first loss of the campaign.

CF Azteca were two goals up inside ten minutes, but Esportivo Rio hauled themselves back on level terms before the hour mark. Teodor Mezquita‘s exquisite opener was matched, in terms of quality, by Sebastiao Velho‘s equaliser. In a frantic finish, Milagros Freixa slipped home the winner with eight minutes of regulation time remaining.

A change of shape seemed to be just what Toronto Athletic needed. They took the lead midway through the first half and held it almost until the end of regulation time. Tokyo-Yokohama appeared to have sealed a share of the points thanks to Alessandro da Sequeira‘s equaliser but, with the cries of celebration still in their throats, Athletic ripped all three points from their grasp. Cash Mitchell reacted first after a scramble in the visitor’s box.

Ciudad de Madrid and Constantinople FC shared the points in Madrid. Antonio Jose Rabellini‘s fine strike just before the half hour mark was cancelled out late on by Aral Akkas‘ neat run and tidy finish.

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