City secure title!

Mark Ives‘ 52nd minute goal has secured the inaugural Global Premier Football League title for London City FC.

After slipping up last week, a match against bottom side, Toronto Athletic, appeared to be an ideal prospect to help get City over the line. While, ultimately, they achieved their goal, it wasn’t an easy afternoon. But that was all academic as they pulled in the result that took the trophy back on the plane with them to Wembley.

Let’s find out what else happened during the penultimate round.

ROUND 37 ROUND-UP

London City survived a nervous afternoon and an edgy performance to grab hold of the three points they needed to claim the GPFL title. While Ives, as has often been the case this season, was the goal scoring hero, it was the defensive unit that got City home in this one.

Athletic, as they have been since the GPFL Cup break, were once again solid, consistently threatening to upset their title chasing visitors, but they couldn’t manage to scratch out the goal that would have changed everything.

So, congratulations to London City for emerging victorious after nine grueling months.

The minor placing were also all but settled, as Union Buenos Aires squeezed past a determined al-Qahirah Stars performance, while Esportivo Rio suffered double calamity to be held at home.

Two goals in the final five minutes, from Sebastiano Cruz and Diego Santander, lifted Union past the Stars, who had taken the lead on the half hour. For so long, Flavio van Overstraeten‘s goal looked to have given the visitors an unlikely victory, but the crowd at the Monumental pushed their team home.

Esportivo were ahead early through Xabier Ballester, but saw Jose Caceres dismissed midway through the second half before Eternal Roma‘s left back, Bruno Caruso, snapped home the equaliser two minutes into added time.

Harbour City‘s goalless draw at Hong Kong Traders was ultimately redundant as the Sydneysiders had previously locked up fourth spot.

Olympia Munich were also held in Asia, but their game at Shanghai Pearl was a vastly different proposition. Gunter Walter and Henry Aribo traded goals with Miguel Casadesus and Albert-Jan Stroek in an open match.

The match of the road was in Paris, as Paris Metro and the Marina Bay Flyers shared eight goals. German centre forwards, Tim Ludwig and Kay Kraus, both scored doubles, as did Metro’s Antenor Nakamura. Dutch assist machine, Boudewijn Tjaarts, was involved in a hat trick of set-ups, including laying on the final goal, scored by Oscar Alvares.

LA Icons and Ciudad de Madrid both picked up wins via a single goal, while Tokyo Yokohama United‘s victory over CF Azteca pushed their visitors into the bottom three.

Turkish superstars, Aral Akkas and Erkin Okay scored the goals that, in the end, helped Constantinople FC to a bright victory over a New York Capitals side that has dropped like a stone in recent weeks.

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