Izo El-Habbib scored two goals as Global dumped Stallion Giligans, 3-1, Tuesday night to regain top spot in the United Football League at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.

The Sudanese striker, shrugging off a hand injury, struck a goal in each half as Global stretched their unbeaten run to 10 matches, while jacking up their output to 38 points – two ahead of Kaya.

Alex Obiang also found the back of the net for Global, which faces Air Force on Saturday and Loyola Meralco on Tuesday in a possible winner-take-all duel for the title.

Ruben Doctora scored the lone goal for Stallion five minutes from time, but it came when the outcome was already settled.

Stallion got off to a lively start with Doctora creating the first real chance of the match in the 10th minute when he raced unto a through ball and had Global goalkeeper Jerome Etoundi beaten.

But Doctora found himself on a difficult angle and couldn’t direct his shot on target with Ange Tressor Guisso and Valentine Kama defending the goal.

Global’s height and heft posed problems for Stallion, but it was a piece of skill from Angel Guirado that almost gifted the former UFL Cup champions their first goal.

A corner was only half cleared and Carli de Murga wisely sent the ball back into the box for Guirado, who flicked the ball unto the top corner only for Wilson Munoz to palm it into the crossbar.

Yu Hoshide was pulling the strings at midfield for Global and it was his fine searching ball that gave El-Habbib the opportunity to break the ice in the 28th minute.

El-Habbib deftly controlled the ball amid a crowd of defenders before slotting it past Wilson Munoz. Global continued to crank up the pressure with Misagh Bahadoran’s surging run on the left earning a foul.

The delivery off the free kick was inch-perfect for Alex Obiang to drill home a volley to make it 2-0 just seven minutes before halftime.

Stallion carved out a couple of clear-cut chances in the second half. Byeong Jun Yoon set up Antonio Albor from eight yards but Etoundi was there to make the stop in the 65th minute. Substitute Jomar Lestingio also had a free header at the far post going just wide.

Global made Stallion pay for missing its chances with El-Habbib putting the outcome beyond doubt in the 81st minute with a close-range strike off a cross from substitute Patrick Reichelt.

Stallion was finally rewarded with a goal when Etoundi gambled on a long cross. The Cameroonian keeper failed to handle the ball and Byeong crossed it for Doctora to fire into an empty net.

The loss knocked Stallion out of title contention, although it can still finish a respectable fourth by ending the season on a strong note.

“I scored the goals because we have a good team,” said El-Habbib. “I still feel pain in my hands but inside the pitch, I forget everything. I play and I do my job,”

Global coach Edwin Cabalida said the tough match augurs well for their late title push “We expected a hard match,” said Cabalida. “They (Stallion) are very good with short passes and diagonal balls, but we dominated the first
half and scored two goals. My concern isthat our level dropped in the last 20 minutes and we have to address that.”