History was made in Hong Kong when the first female coach led Eastern to the Premier League title. In neighboring Macau Benfica also try to make history by winning the Macau Elite League undefeated, so far with only a single goal conceded.
There are four match days left until the end of the 2016 season and Benfica Macau are walking calmly towards their 3rd title in a row, having increased their lead to 10 points since our last update. This means that Benfica can already seal the title this weekend against Casa de Portugal. The main objective is now to prepare for the 2017 AFC Cup qualifiers and try to finish the season without dropping any points.
With the championship basically decided, the battle for the runner up position is the big highlight of the remaining matches. Four teams still have chances to claim this spot, with Sporting Macau and Ka I having a small advantage over C.P.K. and Monte Carlo.
Last weekend Sporting Macau and Ka I faced each other. At the beginning of the round Sporting was in 2nd and Ka I in 3rd, with only 1 point separating both teams. Before the match Ka I coach Josecler said: “Ka I have improved a lot and I hope that we can present better quality football than in the match of the first round.”
The match against Ka I also confirmed the lack of consistency for Sporting at the moment. Ka I won the match 1-0 with the goal scored by Ho Chi Fong in the 90th minute, despite being down to just 10 men. With this result Ka I went up to 2nd and are now 2 points ahead of Sporting (3rd).
Ka I 1-0 Sporting Macau Highlights
Aside from them, C.P.K. are in 4th, also only 2 points behind Ka I. Monte Carlo are currently in 5th position, already 4 points away from Ka I, and the team will probably rather focus on winning the FA Cup.
Last but not least, the relegation battle is also on fire. Chuac Lun is at the bottom with just 4 points. However, Kei Lun, with 7 points, are not completely out of reach, and also for Casa de Portugal (8 points) and Policia (10 points) the following weeks will still be tough. As two teams will drop to the 2nd Division, any point will be crucial in these last matches. Except for Lai Chi who will most likely keep their safe 6th place until the end of the season.
Regarding the top scorers, Carlos Leonel (Benfica) is in the lead with 22 goals, followed by Amarildo (Monte Carlo) with 17 goals and William Gomes (Ka I) with 16 goals.
Click here to check the full classification table
(Photo source: Benfica Macau facebook)