Rio roll City

Just when we thought we knew the destination of the inaugural Global Premier Football League championship Esportivo Rio come along and rip up the script. Their win at Wembley has reset the title race, although if Union Buenos Aires‘ recent form continues there may only be two horses charging towards the finish line.

At the bottom, Toronto Athletic claimed their second consecutive clean sheet, but they’re still eight points adrift of Constantinople FC and Shanghai Pearl.

ROUND 28 ROUND-UP

Esportivo rolled into Wembley and did a job on London City FC to close within two points of the top. After Luke Rees‘ early opener the visitors took over. Both teams were missing their main men – Mark Ives and Rodrigo Machado – and it was Esportivo who adapted far better.

Carlos Hashimoto levelled the scores soon after the opener, before Jose Cacares pushed his team in front before the break. Xabier Ballester helped himself to Rio’s third ten minutes after the restart and, despite a late Ahsan Khan strike, Esportivo saw the match out for a potentially season defining three points.

A second potentially season defining outcome came in Sydney, where Harbour City edged past a stuttering Union Buenos Aires. Bartolomeo Aguirre laid on both first half goals for City, finished off both their attacking fulcrum of Geert-Jan de Walle and Patrik Terzic. Union struggled to progress the ball, but Elian Corral‘s eighth goal of the season, with ten minutes left, sparked a near comeback. City held on…as Union continued to slump.

Paris Metro stormed into Munich and upset Olympia to both push themselves further up the table and stymie their opponent’s slim title hopes. Tim Ludwig was the hero, heading home five minutes after the break to settle things in a top quality European derby.

Eternal Roma and Ciudad de Madrid both posted 1-0 home victories to keep pace in the congested upper middle part of the standings. LA Icons‘s loss in Madrid, along with Emirates United‘s home draw, brought both sides back to the chasing pack.

Marina Bay Flyers secured their third win in four to continue their rise. Valdomiro Sa‘s early double, followed by Kay Kraus‘s successful spot kick, completed a stellar first half for the hosts in Singapore, before Constantinople FC mounted a stirring second half comeback that ended with nothing. Erkin Okay hit a fine double but the visitors didn’t quite have enough in them to complete the job.

CF Azteca and al-Qahirah Stars both secured home clean sheets, leading to important three points, while Toronto Athletic snared their second consecutive goalless draw, and welcome point, since the GPFL Cup break.

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