Stallion, Global try to keep lofty places on top

Karlo Sacamos


TWO heavyweights try to continue collecting maximum points ahead of the crucial stretch of the United Football League as they take on separate foes on Thursday night at the Emperador Stadium in Taguig.
Stallion-Sta. Lucia and Global hope to keep their lofty places in the standings as they battle PSG and Nomads, respectively.
Currently in first place with 27 points, the Stallions face PSG at 5 p.m. before third-running Global, which has 25 points, a point behind Loyola Meralco, collides with Nomads at 7:30 p.m.
A win for the Stallions, the reigning UFL Cup champions, will further separate them from the pack, but a loss and a Global win will catapult the latter to the top of the table.
While the Stallions welcome the return of coach Ernie Nierras, Global is expected to be without coach Brian Reid and defensive midfielder Jason de Jong.
Reid and De Jong both picked up red cards in their 2-0 win against PSG last week in a highly physical affair that saw a total of 12 cards handed out. De Jong was ejected for picking up a second straight yellow card in the second half, while Reid was sent off over a misunderstanding with the referee.
The Scottish mentor said his team should continue to refuse to get affected by the extreme physicality in matches.
“Every game is going to be difficult for us and we have to respond and react in the right manner,” said Reid, whose team will be facing a hungry seventh-running Nomads side that’s on a four-game tailspin.
PSG is tied with Nomads with 11 points, but is ahead on goal difference.
Emmanuel Mbata, PSG’s leading scorer, is also out against Stallion after getting shown a red card for throwing the ball to the face of Global’s Jerry Barbaso in an inbound play in the game versus Global.

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