Davao Aguilas FC continued their winning streak in the PFL this time whipping the winless Philippine Army FC in dominant and professional fashion, shipping five goals unanswered from four goalscorers and maintaining composure in spite of the servicemen’s hostility in matchweek five of the league last Saturday, May 4th at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.
It was the University of Makati product Kart Talaroc who shone for the Aguilas after having a brace as he scored once each half, while Ibrahima N’dour, Jhomaray Sapal, and Yusuke Unoki were also listed in the score sheet with their goals.
But what sealed the Aguilas win is the discipline of their defensive backline, to which coach Aber Ruzgal experimented from his traditional 4-3-3 to a 3-4-3 formation in this match, with a back three composed of captain Daisuke Sato, Shoma Sato, and Reynald Villareal, while Richard Talaroc Jr. and OJ Clarino provided width as wingbacks to produce overlaps on their spicy wing attack. Davao is yet to concede a goal after five full matches this season.
This win brings Davao temporarily to second place in the table with all 12 points sealed in four matches while Army is still winless in five games and sits at second last, just above Manila Montet FC via goal difference.
Five minutes from the opening whistle, Davao Aguilas already took advantage of Army’s reputation of hard fouls as they were awarded a penalty after Ibrahima N’dour was clipped by defender PJ Bernarte while the Senegalese pressed their backline inside the box. N’dour calmly converts his penalty, sending Army goalkeeper John Kent Delariarte the wrong way.
With a goal down, the Philippine Army exerted effort to get the equalizer immediately, with former Azkal and now Army head coach Nestorio Margarse Jr. employing a high line that caught Aguilas strikers offside while capitalizing the lack of counterpressing from the Aguilas midfield, with their biggest chance coming from a counter from a Davao corner which forced goalkeeper Dini Outtara out of his box to sweep the ball and lunge on winger Joshua Gatinao for a corner while getting away with a card on that hard challenge.
The Troopers continued to hold momentum in the middle of the first half as they hunted for one goal back with huge chances coming from a wide header from Chy Villasenor and a tap in from a one-two between Jimuel Arriola and Roynick Bernardo palmed out by Outtara all in the while maintaining the high line.
But that momentum was shattered ironically after criminal defending from the Army backline as goalkeeper John Kent Delariarte mistook the backpass and gave the ball to an advanced Kart Talaroc who had no choice but to chip it above the keeper to double the lead for Davao at the 38th minute.
With two goals down, Army gave more cheap fouls in frustration and played antics to try to get in the minds of their opponents but this strategy usually backfired. A free kick from one antic was given near the edge of the box and Omae So, who was suspended in the previous match against Montet for yellow cards, whips the ball to find Yusuke Unoki for the open tap-in to make it 3-0 just before the halftime whistle.
Down by three goals, Army continued their on-pitch animosity while collecting yellow cards for such tomfoolery and ill-discipline with their reckless tackles and fouls produced, but somehow continued not to concede in the first few minutes of the second half with their effective offside trap catching Davao players off for nine times the whole match.
But Davao finally got a way to figure out this high line in the 70th minute as Kart Talaroc got his second goal of the night from a fantastic solo run in the right flank while skinning and dazzling past two defenders in the process and finished the left footed strike with a little help from a deflection off Bernarte that caught the substitute Army goalkeeper Mark Anthony Bedia off-guard to make it 4-0.
Aguilas followed it up right away with another goal that could perfectly describe the Aguilas attack. Unoki made a cut from the left flank and produced a lovely through ball to OJ Clarino in the right wing beating the offside trap and the whole Army backline. He then squares it past the keeper to Richard Talaroc Jr. who unselfishly crosses it low to an open Jhomaray Sapal in the middle to smash the ball to the back of the net to seal the fifth goal for Davao before 75 minutes of gameplay.
With the game virtually over for the Army men, Jimuel Arriola lost his head and was sent off after bodying Daisuke Sato out of nowhere and confronting the referee. This was his second red card in five match days for the servicemen, with the first coming from the season opener against Manila Digger last April.
As time expired, Ruzgal rotated the squad to prepare for their biggest fixture yet this season next week, as first appearances for this season were given from the substitutes bench to goalkeeper Kenneth Guballo, who was crucial as backup keeper on their Copa run last year, and UMak product Armmagideon Estrellan, who has slowly become a fan-favorite due to his name alone.
Davao Aguilas is set to face their first major challenge this season, as they will face the in-form league leaders Stallion Laguna FC next Sunday, May 12 at the Rizal Memorial Stadium at 7PM kickoff, while the Army will try to get their first win of the season against Mendiola FC on the same date and venue on 4PM kickoff.
