JP Voltes Football Club and Stallions Football Club battled each other to a 0-0 draw yesterday (August 20, 2016) at the Rizal Memorial Stadium in Manila during their 2016 United Football League second round clash.
Despite the fact that no goals were scored, the game itself was an entertaining show as Voltes and Stallions continuously bombarded one another in order to get that all important goal. After ninety minutes, though, Voltes goalie Nelson Gasic was the undisputed man of the match as his saves kept Stallion at bay late in the game.
Once the game started, Voltes looked to prolong their good form with an early goal against Stallions. Stallions goalie Roland Sadia had a few shaky moments courtesy of Takumi Uesato and Yu Hoshide and was perhaps lucky to not have conceded a goal.
It took a while for Stallions to click. When they did so, Gasic was in the way of their best moves. Gasic performed a routine save to deny Joshua Beloya’s header and Fitch Arboleda’s shot. Beloya posed danger for Voltes and he provided a good pass towards Nate Alquiros, only for the latter to head the ball wide.
The two teams then entered the break goalless with Stallions perhaps more disappointed over their inability to put the ball at the back of the Voltes net. As soon as the game restarted, Stallions looked to finally draw first blood. However, Simone Rota’s free kick and Ruben Doctora’s attempt failed to test Gasic.
As the game went on, Voltes were reliant on Gasic to stay in the game. Substitute Dong Min Bae was so close to opening the scoring and it was only Gasic’s fingertips which thwarted him. It was quite repetitive in all honestly.
Gasic then turned away Doctora thrice in succession to save Voltes a point as they uncharacteristically failed to show a much-improved version of themselves in the second half. In fact, Voltes’ best chance in the period was a Uesato lob which was eventually caught by Sadia. In the end, both teams had to make do with a share of the spoils as the final score was 0-0.
After the match, officials from both teams lamented some factors from their respective performances. Voltes director Kyo Nagami said, “Of course not satisfied but of course better than a loss. Actually, though, fifty-fifty game so many opportunities for (Stallions) and some for us. I wanted to defeat to them. Not so easy to get higher: first place, second place. We will try.“
On the other hand, Stallions coach Ernie Nierras said, “We had a lot of chances second half. We dominated the game in the second half. We had so many attempts. We have to know how to put the ball at the back of the net. For the past six games, seven games, our on-target attempts has been more than fifty percent, but we’re not putting it past goalkeepers.“
The result allowed Voltes to go level on points with Ceres-La Salle FC at 29 and they’re now fourth in the league. As for Stallions, they now have 23 points and are sixth in the table.
