Manta League Cup Round 5

And then there were eight. Yes folks, that's all that is left of a whole 200 teams that started the competition and in just 3 days there will be only four in contention for the big cash. Those who got eliminated this morning will have to be satisfied with 125k, while the ones to exit in the quarter-finals will receive the not-so-measly 250k. And although this isn't a small reward, the potential treasures that lay even further ahead will undoubtedly make the losers of the next round feel bad.

But let's not get too ahead of things. First things first, this round's highlights and stats!

Home importance
The first thing that makes an impression when looking at the results is that all 8 teams who played at home won their matches, with Rex Mundi the only team to have settled things in extra-time. On the opposite end we have Easyfit Walsall who smashed 4 goals in Bavaria Weegen's net - a new worst defeat for the German manager.

Premiership supremacy
Round 5 was as high as any non-Premiership team got this season. Only teams which are now competing in Manta's top flight are in the quarter-finals and this is likely to be the case in seasons to come. Enough time has passed since the creation of IAG so the league has sorted 'the best from the rest'. But who will be the 'best of the best'?

Rankings
Here's where everyone left is according to IAG's official club rankings:
1. Noodle FC (75)
2. Rex Mundi (107)
3. Kif Villans (109)
4. Chaos Shumen (211)
5. Scudders (336)
6. Smirnenski United (343)
7. Easyfit Walsall (352)
8. Sabbath Albion (796)

So everyone will be hoping to avoid the top 3 from this table and Sabbath will be the most desired opponent, right? In my own opinion - it's not the opponent that matters in the next round, it's the venue! After all, this round's stats concerning the successfulness of teams who played at home is enough evidence for me.

And now the table with the team details:

Team	Div	GF	GA	ET	Pen	H	A
Chaos Shumen	Prem	8	3	1	0	2	2
Easyfit Walsall	Prem	12	4	0	0	2	2
Kif Villans	Prem	10	2	0	0	2	2
Noodle FC	Prem	11	1	0	0	4	0
Rex Mundi	Prem	9	1	1	0	1	3
Sabbath Albion	Prem	9	2	0	0	4	0
Scudders	Prem	11	3	0	0	4	0
Smirnenski United	Prem	7	0	0	0	2	2

Finally, the top scorers (players from knocked out teams in red):

Name	Team	Goals
W Schwarz	Scudders	7
K Tilly	Norwood FC	6
R Ianniello	Hornets	5
G Burns	Sabbath Albion	5
L Kodritz	Botev Plovdiv	4
J Yates	Chaos Shumen	4
E Grogan	Easyfit Walsall	4
H Walther	Easyfit Walsall	4
S Gos	Howick United	4
N Holdt	Liverpool City	4
D Wheldon	Rex Mundi	4

See you after the quarter final :)