City go top

London City FC have gone three points clear at the top of the table as the Global Premier Football League resumed after a two week break. City won in Paris, while previous leaders, Union Buenos Aires, slipped up at home against Olympia Munchen. It was disaster all round for Union as, not only did they lose for the third time this season, but injury and suspension look to have ruled key players out for several upcoming matches.

ROUND 15 ROUND-UP

Mark Ives was again to the fore for London City, as his 53rd minute strike proved to be the winner at a Paris Metro side who had taken an early lead through Alberto dos Santos. Metro were reduced to ten men not long after taking the lead, and from there City dominated the ball. Okafo Akuchi leveled things up before half time, before Ives’ goal looked set to open the floodgates. But Metro defended doggedly to limit the damage.

After a bright start, things became chaotic for Union against Munchen’s, who saw Andre Peters cap his return from injury with the winner. Rico Cocci grabbed his inevitable goal inside 20 minutes, but he was soon prone on the Monumental turf and had to be removed with what looks to be a serious knee injury. Mike de Wolf equalised for the visitors before the break, then Union suffered a further blow when Sebastiano Cruz was given his marching orders. Things became a bit ragged for Union after Peters’ goal just before the hour mark, but they hit the woodwork twice late on and were unlucky not to share the points.

Richard Casey opened the scoring for Tokyo-Yokohama United at the Maracana, but Esportivo Rio rebounded well, thanks in no small part to another double from Rodrigo Machado. Casey became one of three Golden Boot contenders who had to leave the field early through injury during this round of games, and his absence severely reduced the visitors’ attacking threat as Rio eased their way to their ninth win of the season.

LA Icons kept themselves on the fringes of the title race. Adalberto Cortes and Bjorn Goudier struck during the first half to secure all three points for the Icons against visiting Harbour City.

Both Eternal Roma and Emirates United were held to 1-1 draws on the road. Roma’s Davor Drazenovic canceled our Constantinople FC‘s opener, a screamer from Aral Akkas, while Iweobieglam Halimnye slalomed his way through most of the Shanghai Pearl side to ensure United stayed in the top half. Gu Xing-fu had opened the scoring with his first GPFL goal just after the half hour.

Hong Kong Traders and al-Qāhirah Stars both secured important home victories. Flavio Van Overstraeten struck right on half time to see the Stars edge past Ciudad de Madrid, who saw top scorer, Ranieri Lettiere limp off in the 24th minute. The Traders made hard work of their win over Toronto Athletic, but Mark Evans‘ goal on the hour mark finally broke the Canadians’ resistance to move his side six points clear of the visitors, who now prop up the table.

A double from Adrien De Koninck lifted Johannesburg Rush to their third win of the campaign, and off the bottom spot. Substitute Milagros Freixa‘s goal threatened a late comeback by CF Azteca, but the Rush battened down the hatches and scraped home.

New York Capitals and Marina Bay Flyers shared four goals at MetLife Stadium, each securing a point that inched them away from the bottom of the table.

It’s a quick turnaround for everyone with another set of games scheduled for January 27.

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