With all eight Mulan League teams now back up to full-strength following the end of the AFC Women’s Finals, Kaohsiung moved up to top spot of the Mulan League for the first time this season after an exciting battle of first versus second. Meanwhile, Hang Yuan and Taichung Blue Whale both have a game in hand and only remain a point behind the new league leaders in what continues to be one of the closest league races in many years.

AC Taipei: 3 – Taipei Bravo: 1

The two lowly ranked Taipei-based sides played out an entertaining derby day clash that saw a number of goals scored and probably should have seen even more converted.

After Hsu Yi-yun hit the post early on, AC Taipei eventually took the lead when Lai Si-cheng got onto a simple through-ball down the middle and finished cooly with the outside of her boot. The striker then doubled both her own and her team’s tally for the day when she collected Lin I-tsen’s pass on the edge of the penalty box and her looping shot went over the head of Tseng Min-hsien and into the top corner.

Brave got a goal back when Lin Ya-han poked a shot over the line from close but AC Taipei put the game beyond doubt when Tseng Yun-ching had an easy tap-in goal after a good cross from the right by Li Yi-wen.

Hang Yuan: 0 – Kaohsiung Attackers: 1 

Kaohsiung moved to the top of standings for the first time this season after a deserved win but also one that saw a very nervy last twenty minutes as the home side pushed hard for an equalizer.

Marin Hamamoto scored after just eleven minutes with a close ranger header and for most of the first half, the Attackers seemed to be in control of the game. When they didn’t have the ball, their pressing and aggression seemed to get Hang Yuan off their natural flow.

However, Hang Yuan– who were still missing a number of key players including Pu Sin-hui  and Saki Matsunaga— wouldn’t go quietly and playmaker Miwa Tanaka began to make an impression in the final few minutes of the game. Hang Yuan flashed a couple of chances just wide as the game drifted into injury time but ultimately, Kaohsiung got out of the Fu Jen stadium with the win and ownership of top spots in the standings.

Taichung Blue Whale: 4 – Hualien FC: 0

Third place Taichung showed the gulf in talent between the top three clubs in the Mulan League and the remaining sides as they confidently dismantled Hualien.

After labouring for most of the first half, Taichung finally broke the deadlock just before halftime when Maho Tanaka got onto Tatiana Ewodo’s through ball and fired home a shot that beat Jian Yu-jie at the near post. Tanaka then returned the favour on the stroke of halftime as she set-up Ewodo and the Cameroonian international strolled into the box and waited for the keeper to commit herself before calmly rolling the ball into the bottom corner.

Saowalak Pengngam made it three-nil after her close range shot was initially saved but had enough force to roll over the line. But the goal of the game was the best of the bunch when Wu Yu dinked an inch perfect throughball over the Hualien backline, which was chested down by the onrushing Tanaka and then rolled past Jian to close out a move that showed impressive technique and ball control.

Taichung Sakura: 4 – Valkyrie FC: 0

Sakura moved up to fourth place after eventually pulling away from their opponents at the Taiyuan Soccer Field.

Both teams traded chances before Lin Rih-hsien finally found a way through after the striker cut inside to the penalty box from the left and uncorked a shot that zipped across the turf and into the bottom corner. Sakura made it two-nil when Lo Yu-hsiu drove at the Valkyrie backline, waited for the defenders to converge on her and then selflessly played the ball into the path of Lai Li-chen, who had a simple finish to complete the move. 

Iori Hidaka scored from another close range finish after  Li Yong-shan had played the ball across goal before Lai completed the rout when her misshit cross instead swerved over the head of the Valkyrie keeper and into the top corner.

Photo Credit: GoGoal