Tight at the top

London City FC‘s draw in Madrid has allowed Union Buenos Aires to close the gap at the top of the Global Premier Football League’s standings to one point. Games were close across the league, with Union’s win over Hong Kong Traders the only game where the teams were separated by more than a single goal, while there were five matches in which the teams couldn’t be separated at all.

ROUND 23 ROUND-UP

Both centre-forwards hit the mark in Madrid, as Ciudad de Madrid held league leaders, London City, in a feisty match at the Metropolitano. Felix Turcios put Madrid one up midway through the first half, before Mark Ives levelled thing up just before half time with his 18th goal of a fruitful campaign. Both sides hit the woodwork after the break, but a draw was about the right result, if not suiting either side.

Rico Cocci‘s almost inevitable double ensured Union got back on track after last week’s defeat at the Maracana. Cocci struck once in each half of a controlled performance against a Traders side that were barely able to land a punch against their motivated opponents.

Esportivo Rio were pushed all the way by a solid Constantinople FC side, needing a late winner from red hot Rodrigo Machado to secure all three points. Caua Guedes had put the Brazilians ahead early, before Aral Akkas‘ wonder strike on the half hour pulled the hosts level. Substitute, Erkin Okay, missed a great opportunity to grab a point in added time.

Olympia Munchen lost further ground on the top three in a match they should have won. Andre Peters and Henry Aribo had them two up and seemingly cruising at home against Harbour City, before wobble at the end of each half, along with a red card, allowed the visitors to escape with a point.

Patrik Terzic halved the deficit on half time, before a last man foul saw Juan Tassis dismissed ten minutes after the break. Olympia still looked comfortable, but succumbed from a late sucker punch, Geert-Jan de Walle heading home David Blot‘s corner.

Goals from Harry Saunders and Adalberto Cortes helped LA Icons to a win that moved them to just three points behind Olympia. Shanghai Pearl, in need of points, hit back through Fazel Yeganeh not long after half time, but didn’t have enough to push for a result.

Eternal Roma and Emirates United fought out a stalemate, while Paris Metro were also held, at Johannesburg Rush. Rasoul Pakdel scored inside ten minutes for Emirates United, but Davor Drazenovic leveled score at about the same point of the second half.

In Johannesburg, the hosts struck early and late, but in between Metro looked like they’d have enough to bag a vital three points. Adrien De Koninck opened the scoring inside two minutes, but Tim Ludwig‘s double seemed to have set Metro up for the win. Jurgen Bergmann had other ideas, powering home a header right at the end of regulation time.

New York Capitals and al-Qāhirah Stars both snapped up one goal home wins to edge away from the bottom two. Oscar Varela‘s goal on the half hour for the Capitals won his team all three points against Tokyo-Yokohama United, while Flavio Van Overstraeten‘s left footed bullet five minutes before the break separated the Stars from Toronto Athletic.

In the final match, CF Azteca and Marina Bay Flyers shared the points at the Azteca. Teodor Mezquita rifled home a shot from 30 yards to open the scoring for the hosts before Kay Kraus‘ equally fine strike ensured the Flyers headed home with a deserved point.

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