KAYA FC–Iloilo’s perfect start to the 2019 Philippines Football League continued on Saturday, with a 5-0 shutout of Philippine Air Force at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.
Goals from Jordan Mintah, Alfred Osei, Jovin Bedic, and Darryl Roberts ensured a comfortable victory, which pushed the club’s winning streak to five.
Philippine Air Force set out to be compact and difficult to break down against the league leaders, but Eric Giganto unlocked the defense just after a quarter of an hour. From the left flank, the winger delivered a perfect cross for Alfred Osei to head in the opener.
Six minutes later, Giganto was at it again. Utilizing his lightning pace, Eric broke free on the left flank and teed up Jordan Mintah for an easy tap in.
Iloilo continued to control proceedings leading into the break, but the Airmen did well to plug the holes and avoid conceding. After the restart, the resistance was broken once more.
Arnie Pasinabo was brought down inside the box, allowing Jovin Bedic to fire in an unstoppable penalty into the top right corner.
The match settled into a simmer once more, with Kaya dictating proceedings without creating too much. But with the introduction of Darryl Roberts from the bench in the 69th minute, Iloilo got an immediate fourth.
From a short corner, Marwin Angeles whipped in a ball that the forward, making his first touch on the ball, chested and slotted in.
Mintah added the icing to the victory seven minutes from time, gobbling up the rebound after Arnel Amita had cleverly cut inside his man and fired a stinging effort on goal. The result improved Kaya’s record to a perfect 15 points from five matches.
“I’m happy for the five straight wins, and I’m looking forward to how we can continue. We have three crucial games in the first two weeks of July, so it’s very important for us. It’s going to be a real test on whether or not we can continue the streak,” said Noel Marcaida.
On the horizon for Kaya are matches against Green Archers United, Ceres Negros, and Stallion Laguna.
