Taipei-based Tatung yesterday netted two late goals to beat the Royal Blues 2-0, leapfrogging into second place on the Taiwan Premier Football League table, while Taipei’s Ming Chuan University secured their first points of the season with a hard-earned draw against Hang Yuen/Fu Jen University.
Kaohsiung’s Taipower remained in first place with five wins and one draw for 16 points, after their match at Tainan was rescheduled due to rain rendering the pitch unplayable.
In the afternoon match at Fu Jen University in New Taipei City, the hosts took a 1-0 lead into halftime, after forward Wei Mao-ting took advantage of a scramble in the box to slot home at close range in the 14th minute.
Photo: Courtesy of the Chinese Taipei Football Association
Ming Chuan striker Pai Shao-yu dribbled his way through the hosts’ defense to put the equalizer past the goalkeeper in the 57th minute, with the score holding at 1-1 for the draw.
Ming Chuan players and coaches took consolation from the result, as they have suffered six defeats this season, with their efforts finally earning them their first point in the league this year.
The second game of the afternoon was a battle for second place, as Tatung and the Royal Blues were level on 10 points before the contest.
It was a tense affair with no scoring before halftime, and both teams sought to break the deadlock by launching offensive forays, but defenders and goalkeepers on both sides were up to the task of denying threats.
Tatung striker Marc Fenelus, from the Turks and Caicos Islands, finally broke through in the 84th minute, sending a centering pass to midfielder Su Te-tsai, who headed in the go-ahead goal.
The Royal Blues went all out for an equalizer, but a brilliant Taitung counterattack put the result to bed with a second goal in injury time.
The 2-0 victory lifted Tatung into second place on 13 points, displacing the Royal Blues into a tie for third place with National Sports Training Center.
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