Patrick Deyto showed why he was appointed Global Cebu Football Club captain.
Deyto had a productive evening as he dragged Global to a 1-1 stalemate against Bali United Tuesday night at the historic Rizal Memorial Stadium in Manila. It was Global’s first point in its 2018 AFC Cup Group G campaign.
“I think we deserved to win this game but this happens in football,” commented Deyto. “We have to give credit to Bali. They kept coming at us even if we were leading 1-0. But now we really have to win the next few games. We’ll just get as many points as we can for the next games and hopefully it will be enough for us to go to the next round.”
The Cebu-based club struggled to impose itself in the first half. Patrick Deyto was a busy man in that period as he denied Bali forward Irfan Bachdim and midfielder Stefano Lilipaly with fine saves.
In stark contrast, Deyto’s Bali counterpart Wawan Hendrawan was virtually a spectator in the opening 45 minutes. Unfortunately for the Indonesian goalkeeper, he made a crucial error which allowed Curt Dizon to head the ball home at the 11th minute.
Bali deserved to draw level with Global but it seemed like luck was not on the former’s side. Lilipaly had another chance to get on the scoresheet only for Deyto to deny him on the one-on-one situation early in the second half.
All of Bali’s hard work finally paid dividends at the 74th minute. Ilija Spasojevic headed in Fadil’s corner to grant Bali the goal it deserved. The away side had the momentum at this point of the match, although Deyto was there to save the day for his club.
The former De La Salle Green Archer denied Spasojevic in quick succession. Deyto saved the Indonesian striker’s attempt in open play and would do so again moments later in dramatic fashion. Bali were awarded a penalty 12 minutes from time which Spasojevic took.
A second Bali goal looked certain but Deyto had other ideas as he made a stunning stop to save Global’s blushes. In the end, Global failed to make good use of its home advantage and had to settle for a point instead of a much-needed win.
“Tonight for me it’s an excellent effort from the whole team. We scored first. We played well especially Patrick. We had a lot of chances in the game almost there but we cannot get another goal. One factor also is that (Bali) scored against us when Marco (Casambre) was outside. There’s a little bit of loose organization in the penalty box and they scored an easy goal,” said Global coach Marjo Allado.
Global shall look to add to this point when it takes on Yangon United Football Club away at the Thuwunna Stadium in Yangon, Myanmar. That game shall be held on March 7, 2018.
Global XI: Deyto (GK, C), Lee, Rufo, Barbaso, Roberts, Dizon, Bugas, Marasigan, Angeles, Casambre, Dos Santos.
Bali XI: Wawan (GK), Spaso, Bachdim, Fadil (C), Van Der Velden, Fajrin, ANH BK, Andhika Eijaya, Demerson, Martinus, Lilipaly
