MANILA, Philippines — Mark Hartmann struck hardest against his former team as Global nipped the Loyola Meralco Sparks, 3-2, Saturday night in the United Football League at Emperador Stadium in Taguig.
Given space inside the area, the Fil-British striker scored in the 80th minute to propel Global to its eighth victory that also cut the Sparks’ lead at the top of the table to a single point.
Milad Behgandom and new recruit German Rodriguez gave Global a 2-0 lead, before the Sparks mounted a fightback, scoring twice in a space of five minutes in the second half.
Lee Joo-young provided the Sparks a ray of hope with a 63rd minute strike, before Phil Younghusband equalized from the penalty spot following a foul by Delon Yao inside the area.
But Hartmann, who moved from Loyola to Global during the offseason last year, had the final say in the duel between the league’s top two sides with a well-struck effort past Baba Sampana.
It was sweet revenge for Global, which lost to Loyola, 0-4, in the first round.
“We’ve made it possible for us to control our own destiny,” said Global coach Leigh Manson. “We don’t need to rely on other teams, so for us, it was huge.”
Global looked in cruise control after Rodriguez headed in Hartmann’s cross in the 61st minute to double its advantage after Behgandom had opened the scoring late in the first half. The result jacked up Global’s tally to 25 points in 11 matches.
In the earlier match, Ricardo Becite and John Cain were on target for Army in a 2-1 win against Team Socceroo.
The Armymen improved to 13 points in 10 matches, just one point behind fourth-placed Stallion Gilligan’s.