APL 8.0 Day 3 Roundup

Day 3 of APL 8.0 was awash with tensions, thrills, and spills as multiple teams kept their APL dreams alive, while multiple others saw them come to a close

The day began with the completion of the remaining group stage fixtures. Magic Moments opened the day by knocking out defending champions Patiala House after yet another winner from Hashi, sealing their place at the top of Group A in the process. Fuel Zone and Elephant FC then took to the field in what proved to be a bad-tempered affair marred by an incident of racial abuse towards an Elephant player. The player accused of the abuse was ejected from the tournament and awarded a yellow card. The yellow card in question also sent Fuel Zone into a penalty shootout against Lovsy FC for a place in the Battle of Thirds, where they were defeated. 

The remaining three group stage fixtures between Kings’ Concubines and Kai Mantos, Chai 424 and HR26, and 0-100 and Suiii Squad all ended goalless, confirming Kai Mantos, HR26, and 0-100’s places in the Round of 16, while Concubines and Suiii Squad went to Battle of Thirds. 

The Battle of Thirds followed immediately after, with Lovsy FC getting past Waterfall FC 1-0 courtesy of an Aashraya goal from inside his own half. Suiii Squad then sent Nox Billi packing with a volley from Adit Deo Singh. Dosai Dominators closed off the round by sending Dhruv Achappa’s Kings’ Concubines packing with scramble in the box that was finished off by San Win. Concubines’ defeat meant that the five of the six most expensive players at this APL were all knocked out before the Round of 16. Bhavin Shivaa at Ubermensch United remains the only 100M+ player still left in the tournament.

Ubermensch United were the first to make it past the Round of 16, with Bhavin sneaking a free-kick under the Kai Mantos wall to seal victory. A fantastic link-up between the Shin City front three culminated in a Dhruv Damodar goal, which sealed a 1-0 win against 0-100. The outstanding surprise of the day was the continuation of injury-riddled Pineapple FC’s dream run in APL 8.0. They overcame a much fancied Elephant FC 2-0, with goals from Aryamaan Girish and Uttkarsh Kohli securing a surprise win. Brocode ended HR26’s tournament with a goal from Munashe in the final match of the day. 

Four more fixtures from the Round of 16 remain: Magic Moments vs Dosai Dominators, Wu Shang vs Sharpshooters, Real Babble vs Lovsy, and Dolla Sign vs Suiii Squad.  Here's how the action hangs in balance heading into day 4:

Full list of results from APL 8.0 Day 3:

Group Stage Games

Magic Moments 1-0 Patiala House

Fuel Zone 0-0 Elephant FC Kings’ Concubines 0-0 Kai Mantos

Chai 424 0-0 HR26

0-100 0-0 Suiii Squad Battle of Thirds Games

Waterfall 0-1 Lovsy FC

Nox Billi 0-1 Suiii Squad 

Dosai Dominators 1-0 Kings’ Concubines Round of 16 Fixtures

Ubermensch United 1-0 Kai Mantos

0-100 0-1 Shin City 

Pineapple FC 2-0 Elephant FC

Brocode 1-0 HR26