Hang Yuan on Sunday beat AC Taipei 3-1 to leap from fourth to second place, putting them within one point of Taipei Football Premier League leaders Taipower and Taichung Futuro, whose 1-0 victory over Ming Chuan University left them tied atop the standings.
Hang Yuan started the scoring early, with Wu Yen-shu and Chou Yu-chieh setting up Japanese forward Shunya Ando with a header in the first five minutes.
About 15 minutes later, Ando set up South Korean striker Joo Ik-seong to power past Japanese goalkeeper Kenshin Katata to double their lead.
Photo courtesy of CTFA
Another Hang Yuan header past Katata put them ahead 3-0 just before half-time, and a late goal in the second half by forward Huang Sheng-chieh put AC on the board.
“It was outstanding to hit for three goals in the first half, and deny the opposition’s counterattack. They have young players and can make quick runs into our zone, so we had to neutralize their offense, then adjust to bolster our defensive line in the second half,” Huang Yuan manager Hong Ching-huai said after the game.
Also on Sunday, defending champions Tainan-TSG held Taipei-based Leopard Cat 2-2 in Tainan.
Tainan striker Marc Fenelus from the Turks and Caicos Islands, a former Golden Boot winner in Taiwan, grabbed the opener at seven minutes, after thumping his own rebound in with a header past Leopard Cat goalkeeper Derek Shih.
Five minutes before half-time, Leopard Cat’s Burkina Faso playmaker Ben Ouedraogo split Tainan’s defense on a precision centering pass, for Honduran forward Elias Argueta to fire home the equalizer.
Quickly into the second half, Fenelus scored off a penalty-kick after being pushed, but their lead was short-lived as Guatemalan forward Geraldo Rabre found Ouedraogo inside the box, for his teammate to again tie the game.
Neither side was able to break the tie, forcing Tainan to settle for their second consecutive draw and fall to fourth in the standings.
In Taoyuan, Taichung Futuro earned three points with their 1-0 victory over hosts Ming Chuan University.
For much of the game, Ming Chuan University frustrated Futuro until late in the game, when Futuro was awarded a penalty-kick.
Haitian striker Benchy Estama duly converted the spot-kick, for the only goal of the match, leaving Ming Chuan University winless with zero points for the season.
SSC Napoli’s Italian Serie A title hopes suffered a late setback on Sunday when they were held to a 2-2 draw at home against Genoa, setting up a thrilling season finale with closest rivals Inter just one point behind. The hosts remain top with 78 points, holding a slim lead over Inter, who won 2-0 at Torino earlier on Sunday, with two rounds remaining. To make matters worse for Napoli, midfielder Stanislav Lobotka, struggling with an ankle injury, was forced off just minutes after the match began. Scott McTominay delivered a perfect pass into the box where Romelu Lukaku got
Harry Kane opened the scoring ahead of lifting his first career silverware as Bayern Munich beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-0, with veteran Thomas Mueller playing his last home game for the club. Bayern officially won the title on May 4 when defending champions Bayer Leverkusen were held to a 2-2 draw at Freiburg, but were presented with the Bundesliga shield in front of their home fans at full-time. Dripping wet after being showered with beer by teammates, Kane said the title win was “an incredible feeling,” and hoped it would be “the first of many.” “It’s been lot of hard work, a lot of
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
Taiwanese e-sports veteran Lin “ET” Chia-hung yesterday successfully defended his King of Fighters XV title at this year’s Evolution Championship Series: Japan (EVO Japan), securing his second consecutive championship. Lin claimed victory with a 3-1 win over Japanese pro gamer “mok” in the grand final, repeating his earlier 3-1 win against the same opponent in the winners’ final. The 40-year-old earned a ￥1 million (US$6,897) cash prize at the two-day tournament, which drew 294 competitors. Mok, Lin’s toughest rival in the bracket, took home ￥400,000 as runner-up. Lin remains undefeated in match sets against mok in King of Fighters XV, holding a 10-0 record,
RSS