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MANILA, Philippines – Stallion FC and Kaya FC each earned an early lead after sneaking past their rivals in the first leg of the semifinal round of the United Football League Football Alliance Charity Cup on Friday, July 19.
Both squads made dominating debuts in the semifinal round of the tourney, managing to score a goal higher than their opponents to steal the early lead.
After a commanding quarterfinals conquest, Kaya FC pinched an early lead against their bitter foes Loyola Meralco Sparks FC, 4-3, in a heated match at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium.
The highly anticipated rivalry game between the two UFL pioneer squads started off on a strong foot as both teams were eager to take the driver seat for the matchup.
Fans inside the RMFS were equally thrilled to watch the two top tier squads go against each other for their chosen charities.
Early in the game, Kaya’s offensive frontline shifted to full gear as Thomas Taylor found the back of the net from just inside the box to take the early lead for the yellow shirts, 1-0.
Loyola’s offense, however, did not back down from the prompt goal from the opposing side by retaliating with an attack headed by striker Robert Cañedo but their outbreak was spoiled by Kaya’s keeper.
The two squads went at it by exchanging attacks, both looking to capitalize on their adversaries’ defensive lapses.
Kaya sent a flurry of attacks on the 17th and 27th minute but none came through the defensive post of Sparks’ goalie Ricardo Padilla.
In the 30th minute, Christian Ayew Egba broke away from his defender deep inside the Loyola territory to strike but his ball hit the woodwork and floated away from the net.
Another goal was sent by Taylor on the 35th minute coming off the assist of Ayew to extend the lead to 2-0.
On the other side, a surgical strike by veteran national team player Phil Younghusband sank in from way beyond the box, cutting Kaya’s lead down to just 1.
Come second half, more veterans from the Loyola bench came in to boost their squad’s efforts to topple Kaya FC lead.
Fresh legs proved to be effective for the blue shirts as substitute James Younghusband slipped a pass to the running Simon Greatwich who then headed the ball to the far side of the post to tie the game at 2-2.
Not long after the equalizing goal, Greatwich returned the favor to J. Younghusband, this time assisting the latter to score a goal of his own to break the deadlock in favor of his squad, 3-2.
Consequently, Kaya FC issued a counter attack as Taylor grooved in another goal to complete his hat-trick on the 67th minute.
The game became physical as a series of attacks were exchanged by the two troops, each wanting to end the deadlock before regulation ended.
The intense exchange of attacks resulted in the ejection of Kaya FC playing coach Chris Greatwich, who was then sent to the stands by match officials after continuously complaining of a non-call by the referee.
As the game went into stoppage time, a final goal was propelled inside the Padilla-manned post as Masa Omura flicked a header off a corner to seal the early lead for Kaya FC, 4-3.
Stallion inches away from Global
The defending champs of the UFL have their work cut out for them after their semifinal antagonist Stallion FC takes the early lead on their two-game meeting.
Early attacks from the two football powerhouse delegations marked the start of the game.
Not wanting to back down from the stifling defense of Global FC, the Stallions engaged in a speedy offensive to wreak havoc on their enemy’s territory.
Stallion FC’s Fitch Arboleda disrupted the silence of the opening minutes of the first half with a superb ball on the 25th minute of the contest.
Five minutes after his opener, Arboleda tallied another goal for his home squad to extend the lead at 2-0.
Looking to breach the two goal advantage of Stallion, Global’s offense went into assault mode in the remaining minutes of the first half as Valentine Kama headed in a shot past the Stallion goalie to cut the deficit to just 1.
In the latter part of the game, an exchange of raids were made by the battling squads but no more goals were sank until the 90 minute mark. Stallion took the early lead against Global FC on aggregate, 2-1.
Accordingly, the second leg of the semifinal bouts against Kaya FC versus Loyola FC and Stallion FC versus Global FC will take place on Tuesday, July 22 – Rappler.com
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