The top three teams won their matches in the Taiwan Mulan Football League on Saturday, with the title race heading to the wire with five points separating leaders Hualien City and defending champions Taichung Blue Whale, who are due to face off at the weekend.
Hualien City laid down a marker in Saturday’s opening match by defeating Hang Yuan 4-0.
Midfielder Hsu Yi-yun opened the scoring when her cross, which eluded goalkeeper Liao Wen-chi, bounced off the far post into the net for the lead just before halftime.
Photo courtesy of the CTFA
Within 12 minutes of the restart Hualien City had added two more, both from passes from the right flank, from Lin Kai-ling and Tan Wen-lin.
In 74th minute, striker Wu Shih-ping headed the fourth to complete the rout and go top of the race for the golden boot with 17 goals.
Saturday’s second match featured the debut of Japanese defender Minori Wakabayashi, a late-season transfer looking to bolster the defense of last-placed Kaohsiung Sunny Bank, who took on Taichung Blue Whale.
It was billed as a showdown between the former JEF United Chiba defender and Blue Whale’s in-form striker Michelle Pao, after the two played against each other in Japan’s Nadeshiko League in 2017, Pao with Nojima Stella Kanagawa Sagamihara.
Pao scored a brace in the first half, the second her 17th goal this season, to move alongside Wu as the league’s top scorers.
Lee Hsiu-chin added another two for Blue Whale in the second half, before some sloppy play allowed Sunny Bank to grab two late consolation goals in a more respectable 4-2 loss, the first time they have scored two goals in a match this season.
“I was worried about playing in the afternoon heat, as in Japan we mostly play evening games. So I was drained in the second half and got a bit of cramp, and needed to drink a lot of water,” Wakabayashi said.
“Although we lost, our team did not give up and kept on fighting, and we had a better result this time. I want to help the team to improve in the coming games,” she said.
Wakabayashi said that she is a friend of Blue Whale’s Japanese midfielder Maho Tanaka, as they were teammates in the Japan U18 squad.
“So it’s nice to see her [Tanaka], to play against her and Michelle Pao in this game,” she said. “I had visited Taiwan before, the people are very friendly and the COVID-19 situation is under control, so it is good to live and play football here in Taiwan.”
In Saturday’s other match, Lin Ya-han and Lin Hsin-hui each scored a brace as Taipei Bravo thrashed Inter Taoyuan 5-1.
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