Brilliant displays by Japanese players in Taiwan soccer’s men’s and women’s leagues over the weekend left the leading teams bunched atop the tables ahead of an exciting finish to the title race, with one more round of matches to be played.
New signing Shohei Yokoyama stole the headlines with a hat-trick on his debut as Taichung Futuro trounced NTUS 4-1 in Taichung in the Taiwan Football Premier League on Sunday.
Yokoyama, who previously played in Croatia’s second division and the third division in Austria, showcased his skills with an early goal, taking out his marker with a flick and firing in from outside the penalty area, beating NTUS goalkeeper Tien Hsuan-ching, who could not get to the ball as it rocketed in just under the crossbar in the ninth minute.
Photo courtesy of the CTFA
NTUS forward Chen Po-hsun equalized from a counterattack 10 minutes later, but Futuro went ahead again just before halftime as Yokoyama slotted home from the penalty spot.
Futuro winger Chen Hao-wei scored the third in the 60th minute, and three minutes later Yokoyama dashed into the penalty area from the right flank and completed his hat-trick with a clinical finish.
“Yokoyama was handed his first start, because our team’s forwards were being rested due to injuries. We had him down as a winger supporting the forwards, but today we put him up front as the main striker and he did very well. Yokoyama put in a great effort and today he showed everyone what he can do,” Futuro manager Henry Von said.
Defending champions Tainan TSG thrashed CPC 4-1 in Taoyuan, with an opening goal from Turks and Caicos forward Marc Fenelus canceled out in a goalmouth scramble that was credited as an own-goal off the feet of TSG defender Cheng Hao.
It was all TSG in the second half, with a goal from Ivory Coast striker Ange Samuel and a brace from forward Chen Juei-chieh.
Taipower stayed in touch with leaders TSG with a 1-0 home win over Taipei Flight Skywalkers in Kaohsiung, striker Ko Yu-ting thumping in a header from a cross from the left just before halftime.
TSG and Taipower both have 31 points, with Futuro in third place with 23.
The other game saw Hang Yuan and Tatung play out a 2-2 draw in New Taipei City.
In the women’s Taiwan Mulan Football League, Japanese midfielder Minori Wakabayashi knocked in a late header as Kaohsiung Sunny Bank upset league leaders Hualien City 1-0.
It was a huge result, as defending champions Hualien topped the table prior to the match, but the defeat dropped them to second on goal-difference behind Taichung Blue Whale, who defeated the Taipei Bravo Bears 2-0 with goals from Lai Li-chin and Japanese midfielder Miho Tanaka.
Sunny Bank’s victory handed Hualien their first defeat of the season and also ended their 22-game unbeaten streak dating back to last season.
The victory saw Sunny Bank move up to third place, only three points behind the leaders with two more rounds of matches to go.
Sunny Bank shut down the potent Hualien offense, headed by strikers Wu Shi-ping and Tan Wen-lin, while Wakabayashi, signed last season and handed the captain’s armband this year, ran the game from midfield.
The tight match was scoreless with less than 10 minutes to go when Sunny Bank got a corner. Wakabayashi timed her run to the far post perfectly, beating her marker to power the winning header into the net.
“This goal is the most important for me in my two seasons in Taiwan. It is a very vital victory for us because Hualien are the champions, winning the double last year,” Wakabayashi said. “This win shows that any team and any player can improve by making changes, but it needed every player on the pitch to work together and have the courage to fight a battle. All these combined efforts led to me heading a goal today, so I must credit this win to Sunny Bank’s coaches, players and all the staff.”
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