Round 4 and it was quickly emerging that Aston Villa, Chelsea and Man Utd were the teams to bet and the three favourites in this competiton. Round 4 only enhanced these credentials as all three teams collected three points each to pull away from the chasing pack.

 

Chelsea did not have it all their own way though as they struggled to break down a resilient Arsenal side. Although in 7th place, Arsenal had only conceded one goal in their three games and their defence was again to be the bedrock of this performance. In a one-side game, Arsenal defended for their lives in a backs-to-the-wall rearguard action. They chased, harried, blocked and threw themselves into tackles to maintain parity against their local opposition. As time was ticking away it looked like Arsenal were going to hold on but then a comedy moment at just the wrong time shattered all those efforts.

 

Arsenal keeper Alex Price collected the ball and, without realising Antonio Zimic was in close proximity, rolled the ball out to take the goal kick. Zimic, quick as a flash, pounced to steal in and pass the ball into the unguarded Arsenal net. Heartbreak for Arsenal as their battling display deserved a point. Seconds after the final whistle blew and Chelsea took the three points with a huge sigh of relief.

 

There was less drama on Pitch B as Man Utd took no prisoners in sweeping aside Tottenham by 4-0. Tottenham were looking to build on their first three points of the campaign in the previous round but those hopes were dashed as Jorge Correira opened the scoring with his third goal of the tournament before Celso Rosario, David Mendonca and Carl os Correira completed the job. The result meant Man Utd hit top-spot for the first time on goal difference.

 

Aston Villa were now fully into their stride following up their 3-0 win against Reading Royals with a win by the same scoreline against 4th placed Liverpool. Liverpool started well with four points from six but followed that with two defeats to drop out of the top four. Nabeel Shabir opened the scoring for Aston Villa with his third of the tournament making him joint top goalscorer with Man Utd's Jorge Correira at this stage. Jerome Branch scored his second of the competition and Steve Chamberlain added a third to make it 3-0. The result kept them hot on the heels of the Portuguese pair and leading the English challenge.

 

The final game saw Reading Royals versus Ipswich Town Elite. Reading Royals were looking to lift themselves off bottom whilst Ipswich were looking to kick on in their challenge for 4 th place. The match saw Ipswich Town Elite take the game to Reading Royals but Reading were strong, resilient and full of running despite the warm Portuguese sun. The game finished 0-0 and Reading Royals deservedly picked up their second point of the tournament to move up from 8 th to 7 th . Ipswich Town Elite, who may have felt they should have won this game, also climbed a place from 5 th to 4 th at the expense of Liverpool .

 
Results

Chelsea (Por)

1

v

0

Arsenal (Eng)

Manchester United (Por)

4

v

0

Tottenham (Eng)

Aston Villa (Eng)

3

v

0

Liverpool (Eng)

Reading Royals (Eng)

0

v

0

Ipswich Town Elite (Eng)

 
Table

Team

Pld

W

D

L

F

A

Pts

Manchester United (Por)

4

3

1

0

8

1

10

Chelsea (Por)

4

3

1

0

5

1

10

Aston Villa (Eng)

4

3

0

1

8

1

9

Ipswich Town Elite (Eng)

4

1

2

1

1

2

5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Liverpool (Eng)

4

1

1

2

2

5

4

Tottenham (Eng)

4

1

0

3

1

7

3

Reading Royals (Eng)

4

0

2

2

1

6

2

Arsenal (Eng)

4

0

1

3

0

3

1

 
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