Kaya Football Club and Loyola Meralco Sparks Football Club clashes are some of the best games local football fans can watch here in the Philippines. There is always a great mixture of subplots and drama awaiting to unfold in the next ninety minutes.
Yesterday’s (July 16, 2016; 4:00PM) 2016 United Football League first round encounter at the Rizal Memorial Stadium in Manila between Kaya and Meralco didn’t disappoint. Both teams were reeling from painful defeats garnered the past week and were eager to get a win over the other.
It was a tight game with one goal enough to separate the winners and losers. That one goal was scored by Kaya’s Robert Lopez-Mendy (8′). Lopez-Mendy, though, was sent off later in the game due to a second yellow card, but Kaya held on to a 1-0 win over Meralco.
All things considered, Kaya started the game on the wrong foot. Junior Muñoz had to be substituted five minutes into the first half by Janrick Soriano after the former broke his nose. Kaya goalie Matthew Acton then became a busy man when Meralco forward Phil Younghusband forced him to make two good saved.
And then came the game’s first turning point. Kaya won a corner at the right side of Meralco’s half which was taken by midfielder Miguel Tanton. Tanton delivered a good ball into the Meralco box which was headed into the net at the 8th minute by Lopez-Mendy.
Following Lopez-Mendy’s goal, Kaya and Meralco alternated winning and conceding free kicks although goalscoring chances were few in between due to both teams cancelling each other out. Joaquin Cañas almost restored parity in the game for Meralco, only for some heroic defending from Kaya’s Masa Omura to deny him.
The game then opened up with Kaya’s Antin Ugarte and Soriano having their sniffs at the Meralco goal. At the other end, Omura conceded a free kick which was then taken by Phil Younghusband whose eventual attempt narrowly went over the bar.
The impetus on attack carried in for both teams before the break. Only a goalline clearance from Omura stopped Meralco’s Kou Ichi Belgira from having a sure goal while Acton was on hand to make fine saves against James Younghusband and Tahj Minniecon. At the other end, Tanton forced Meralco goalie Gui Hasegawa concede a corner with striker Eric Ben Giganto heading the ball over from the following play.
Kaya enjoyed a slender 1-0 edge above Meralco at the break in what was turning out to be a pulsating match.
After the break, it was Meralco which tried to create openings to score. Meralco, though, found it hard to break Kaya down because of Acton and his defenders. The Sparks were given some sort of hope with thirty minutes left in the game. Lopez-Mendy incurred a second yellow card for a foul on Cañas which left the referee no choice but to send him off.
Meralco now had every reason to get the equalizer and maybe win the game, but poor finishing and Kaya’s resilient defending cost them. The Sparks probed and probed Kaya’s defense to no avail. The Younghusband brothers each had a golden attempt to clinch a goal, yet they failed to put the ball at the back of the net.
In the end, Kaya enjoyed a well-fought 1-0 win over their archrivals Meralco. The result left Kaya at 5th place with 21 points in the league table. On the other hand, Meralco was a place above at 4th place with 24 points.
For Kaya coach Chris Greatwich, the win was a welcome response from last week’s debacle. Greatwich said, “Our boys didn’t lose enthusiasm. They come with the right attitude in training these past two weeks. They haven’t let their disappointing results let them down and the combination of that was the performance today which I thought was absolutely outstanding.”
