By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Kaya FC-Iloilo converted a late goal to avoid their first loss in the 2020 AFC Cup, settling for a 1-1 draw against Indonesian squad PSM Makassar.
Despite being a man-down, the Makassar team still made it hard for the Iloilo-based squad as they came out fiery hot in their home pitch.
Things came in for the worse as the Iloilo defense came in stumbling after a sweet through ball play from the Indonesians which they converted easily to draw first blood.
After that, Kaya began to control the tempo and took advantage of Makassar’s depleted lineup but just could not find the back of the net for an early equalizer.
During the second half, Kaya began to capitalize on every opportunity they had for a goal, thanks to their coaching staff’s adjustments after they subbed out Marwin Angeles for Arnel Amita who created numerous chances for Iloilo.
Things paid off for the Ilonggos during the 50th minute of the match after Amita threw a beautiful cross that caught a wide-open Eric Giganto for an easy equalizing header, 1-1.
The momentum boosting goal created more chances for Kaya FC but most of their attempts were deflected or saved by the Makassar goalkeeper.
