GLOBAL and JP Voltes eluded their gritty foes to claim top spots in their respective groups in the United Football League (UFL) Cup over the weekend at Rizal Memorial Football Stadium.
Arthur Kouassi led Global in the stoppage time to complete their rousing comeback in the last 10 minutes and turned back Ceres-La Salle, 2-1, to remain undefeated after two games in Group B with six points.
JP Voltes, on the other hand, also crawled from an early deficit and rode on the heroics of Masaki Yanagawa to beat Forza, 2-1, for its second straight win in Group A.
In the last match, undermanned Loyola Meralco Sparks returned to its winning track behind the hat tricks of Alvaro Castiella and Tahj Minniecon as they blasted Pasargad, 7-1, in the other Group B fixture.
The Sparks managed to bounce back from their sorry 1-2 loss to Ceres-La Salle last week as they continued to miss Phil Younghusband, Simon Greatwich and Joaco Canas due to injuries, while defender Adam Mitter was serving a suspension.
The Green Archers drew the first blood off Gary Epesso’s goal off a corner kick in the 27th minute.
The airtight defense of the Archers shackled Global all night. But Matthew Hartmann got a game-changing break despite the dwindling time, nailing the crucial free kick that equalized the match at 1-apiece in the 82nd minute.
Then Global went to Kouassi, who fired a fearless shot from outside the box to snatch the victory.
The match was hotly contested with 10 yellow cards given in the game. Ceres-La Salle defender William Ebanda was ejected after getting two yellow cards.
Meanwhile, Ndoe Mekong opened the scoring for Forza in the ninth minute.
But Yanagawa hit a header off a corner kick to tie the game, 1-all, in the 25th minute. Yanagawa continued to emerge as the hero for JP Voltes, as he nailed another header off a corner 10 minutes into the second half.