Fans at Taipei Municipal Stadium on Sunday witnessed the upset of the Taiwan Football Premier League season so far, as the bottom-of-the-table Red Lions pulled off a shock 2-0 win over reigning champions Tatung, while Taichung Futuro held on to first place with a narrow 1-0 win thanks to a disputed penalty.
Tatung were among the frontrunners in pursuit of leaders Futuro, despite experiencing a slump in form after two straight defeats, and most people expected an easy victory over the Red Lions, who only picked up their first point when they held Hang Yuan to a scoreless draw the previous weekend.
Tatung signaled their intentions by starting with twin strikers Ange Samuel of the Ivory Coast and Ben Ouedraogo of Burkina Faso, with Taiwan international Onur Dogan and Honduran Elias Argueta in support, while the Red Lions countered with their own twin threat, Gerardo Rabre of Guatemala and Esteban Vasquez of Chile.
Photo courtesy of the CTFA
The Red Lions absorbed wave after wave of opposition attacks, before capitalizing on a mistake by Tatung’s Luis Fernando, with Rabre robbing the ball off the centerback and coolly slotting past goalkeeper Shih Hsin-an.
Then 10 minutes after halftime, the Red Lions struck again when Rabre bent a shot into the corner.
“I congratulate all the players for a great job to win this match. Offensively, we took advantage of our opportunities and it was a great day for Gerardo [Rabre],” Red Lions coach Francisco Arce said. “We created [a] defense cage in the match, with other camouflage formations, when Ben [Ouedraogo] and Samuel had the ball, to close down their space. We we knew given time and not scoring goals could despair Tatung. Our defensive work was very good today.”
The match between Futuro and Hang Yuan featured plenty of chances, but it took a penalty to decide it.
Futuro forward Chen Chi-wei intercepted a goal-kick in the 36th minute, advanced toward the penalty area and was fouled by Haitian defender Judelin Aveska.
The referee decided that the infringement had occurred in the area and awarded a penalty that was vigorously protested by Hang Yuan.
South Korean striker Joo Ik-seong dispatched the penalty as Futuro remained undefeated at the top of the table with 21 points.
Second-placed Taipower rallied from 2-0 down against Taiwan Steel at the National Stadium in Kaohsiung for a 3-2 victory to keep the pressure on the leaders.
Taiwan Steel got off to a flying start with goals by Taiwan internationals Chen Hao and Wu Chun-ching in the first 12 minutes.
Taipower’s Huang Kai-chun pulled one back before fellow striker Lee Hsiang-wei equalized just before halftime.
Huang completed the comeback when he scored with a glancing header from a corner in the 78th minute.
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