GLOBAL FC flashed its old, fiery form to outclass Green Archers United, 5-1, on Tuesday and grab the solo lead in the United Football League at the Emperador Stadium in Mckinley Hill, Taguig.
Groping for form since their loss in the finals last year, the reigning League champions finally showed their mettle as they turned to Izzo El-Habbib (two goals), Carli de Murga, Patrick Reichelt, and Marvin Angeles in notching their third straight win for a total of nine points.
“(Our game) is getting better. We’re getting there,” team owner Dan Palami said. “We still have to work on the finishing, but the conditioning is evident already in how they move the ball around.”
“It’s more of a statement to ourselves that we can play this well, and it’s been a while since we have last seen ourselves play like this,” the Tacloban-born entrepreneur added.
Two consecutive goals in a span of four minutes courtesy of De Murga (11th) and El-Habbib (15th) gave Global a commanding lead at halftime.
Tating Pasilan, the second leading scorer in the tournament behind El-Habbib last year, pulled a goal back for the Archers just four minutes into the second half, but Global answered back and put the game away with three unanswered goals.
El-Habbib struck anew for Global in the 56th minute off a Ben Starosta header pass, Reichelt rewarded Jeff Christiaens’ cross four minutes later, before Angeles joined the scoring fray six minutes before stoppage time.
“He was really a big threat,” Palami said of El-Habbib. “He almost scored a hat-trick but I think the opportunities will always be created for him by his teammates, so it’s really important that he gets those goals. It’s important for his confidence.”
The Archers, who missed Elle Cagayanan to suspension, suffered their third straight loss to move to the bottom of the pile with a goal difference of -7.