Taipower yesterday recorded their third straight win to start the Taiwan Football Premier League season, consolidating their grip on first in Taiwan’s top division soccer, while Hang Yuen and Taiwan Steel also notched victories in the third round.
The weekend’s four matched saw visiting Taipower shut out Min Chuan University 2-0 at the university’s Taoyuan campus, while Hang Yuen, at home at Fu Jen Catholic University in New Taipei City’s Sinjhuang District won by the same score against NTUPES.
Hang Yuen had 22-year-old Brazilian striker Luan Anderson to thank after he netted a brace with a goal on either side of halftime.
Anderson, who studies at Nanhua University in Chiayi County, told reporters after the game: “I had been on the starting line-up for all three games, and the games have players with higher skill levels compared with university league games.”
“It was great to score two goals today,” he said. “I was just doing my job.”
“We have other students at Nanhua University and they all want to stay in Taiwan to continue playing football here,” he said.
“Hang Yuen FC was my [first] choice, because the team’s style is well-suited for me. So I hope to contribute more in the coming games for our team to win,” he said.
Taiwan Steel hosted the Taipei Red Lions at Tainan’s Yonghua Stadium, where they prevailed 3-2.
Defending champions Tatung battled to 2-2 draw against Taichung Futuro in Hsinchu County’s Jhubei City.
Top division soccer commenced this month, with the women’s Mulan League starting on April 11 and the men the next day.
The games have garnered international attention, as the major leagues in Eurpoe and elsewhere are shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The men’s league, which is sponsored by Hua Nan Bank, is among only five top soccer competitions that are in action worldwide, alongside Belarus, Nicaragua Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.
The Chinese Taipei Football Association (CTFA), the governing body for soccer in Taiwan, is livestreaming games via CTFA.TV and YouTube, with one game per week having English commentary.
This coming weekend, Tainan are to play Taichung, Tatung face NTUPES, the Red Lions take on Taipower and Hang Yuen are to play Ming Chuan University.
In the Mulan League, three teams are tied at the top of the table with a win and a draw after two rounds.
In the second round on Saturday, the Taipei Bears were surprise 1-0 winners over defending champions the Taichung Blue Whale, while Hualien beat New Taipei Air Source 2-1 and Taoyuan International overcame Kaohsiung Yangxin 1-0, with all of the matches played at the Taiyuan Stadium in Taichung.
Hualien, the Bears and Taoyuan each have four points, while Taichung have three, New Taipei have one and Kaohsiung have no points.
Freddie Freeman homered and drove in four runs, Shohei Ohtani also went deep and Roki Sasaki earned his first major league win as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves 10-3 on Saturday night for their seventh straight victory. The Dodgers have won the first two games of the series to improve to 5-0 against Atlanta this year. Los Angeles’ three-game sweep at home early in the season left the Braves 0-7. Sasaki allowed three runs and six hits over five innings. The 23-year-old right-hander gave up a home run to Ozzie Albies, but received plenty of offensive support in his
INTER AWAIT: Superb saves by PSG ’keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma inspired the victory, as Arsenal were punished for misses, including one by Bukayo Saka Arsenal on Wednesday fell short on the big stage again as their painful UEFA Champions League semi-final exit against Paris Saint-Germain left Mikel Arteta to rue his club’s failure to provide him with enough attacking options. Arteta’s side were unable to reach the Champions League final for the first time in 19 years as PSG clinched a tense 2-1 win at Parc des Princes. Trailing 1-0 from last week’s first leg in London, the Gunners made a blistering start to the second leg, but could not convert their chances as Gianluigi Donnarumma’s superb saves inspired PSG’s 3-1 aggregate victory. Arsenal were punished for
Bayern Munich on Sunday were crowned German champions for the 34th time, giving striker Harry Kane his first major trophy, after second-placed Bayer 04 Leverkusen drew 2-2 at SC Freiburg. Bayern’s 3-3 draw at RB Leipzig on Saturday, when the Bavarians came from two goals down to take the lead before conceding a stoppage-time equalizer, meant defending Bundesliga champions Leverkusen needed to win at Freiburg to delay the title party. Leverkusen were two goals down before scoring twice in the final 10 minutes, but Xabi Alonso’s side could not find a third, as Bayern reclaimed the title at the first attempt after
THRILLER: Raphinha gave Barca a 3-2 lead with two minutes remaining of regular time, but Francesco Acerbi equalized the game in the second minute of added time Davide Frattesi on Tuesday fired Inter into the UEFA Champions League final with an extra-time winner that gave the Italians a stunning 4-3 triumph over Barcelona, 7-6 on aggregate. Italy midfielder Frattesi won a tie for the ages under a downpour in Milan when he lashed home in the 99th minute, sending a packed and rocking San Siro wild with joy. Simone Inzaghi’s team will face either Arsenal or Paris Saint-Germain at the end of this month in Munich, Germany, where they would feel they have a great chance to be crowned kings of Europe for a fourth time after
RSS