GLOBAL leaned on Arthur Kouassi’s heroics to nip Green Archers United, 2-1, Saturday night for its second straight win in the United Football League Cup at Rizal Memorial Stadium.
Given time and space just outside the box, the striker from the Ivory Coast unleashed an unstoppable shot to the top corner in stoppage time as Global completed its remarkable fightback in the last 10 minutes.
Gary Epesso put Archers in front with a header off a corner kick in the 27th minute. It took 82 minutes for Global to find the breakthrough goal as Matthew Hartmann curled in a free kick to make it 1-1 and set the stage for Kouassi’s match-winner.
The win gave Global the lead in Group B with six points from two matches, while Archers fell to third spot after suffering its first loss.
JP Voltes also hacked out a narrow 2-1 win over Forza to climb to the top of Group A, while Loyola Meralco bounced back from a heartbreaking loss to Ceres with a 7-1 demolition of Pasargad.
Japanese defender Masaki Yanagawa knocked in two goals —both off headers on corner kicks—as Voltes survived an early scare before picking up its second win.
Ndoe Mekong shoved Forza ahead in the ninth minute, before Yanagawa, who played for Global last season, equalized with a header off a corner kick 16 minutes later.
Set pieces proved to be Voltes’ strength as Yanagawa scored what turned out to be the winner in the 55th minute through another header off a corner.
The Sparks got three goals each from Spanish striker Alvaro Castiella and Australian winger Tahj Minniecon, while James Younghusband, forced to play at centerback due to injuries, also found the back of the net.
Global hardly looked the side that picked apart Pasargad on opening-day as the 2014 league champions struggled to carve out openings right from the onset against a resolute Green Archers side.