It was a hot afternoon at Rizal Memorial Stadium on Saturday, but that didn’t stop the rain of goals as United City and Manila Digger fiercely traded blows in a tense match that started slowly but exploded into life midway through the second half.
Fresh off a 7-0 mauling of Don Bosco Garelli last week, United City – with new coach Ramon Tribulietx on the touchline for the first time – stuck with the same lineup as last week, only replacing full-back Zachary Taningco with Miggy Clarino. Manila Digger opted for the same lineup that had seen them soar to fourth in the PFL table, with Johnmar Barsanilla replaced at center-back by Jovan Marfiga.
It didn’t take long for the match to see a goal – in fact, it took only 32 seconds. Troy Limbo capitalized on an error from Darwin Regala and slid the ball to in-form striker Ariel Ngueukam, who blasted the ball home from close range.
Despite the early goal, Digger regained composure and quickly took control of the match. Salifu Jatta, who was still recovering from an injury sustained three weeks prior, was the biggest danger to goalkeeper Henri Bandeken’s goal, first squeezing past Nurhidayat before his cross was cleared away, with his second effort from outside the box hitting the top of the post.
Digger’s misses would eventually come back to haunt them, as United City again found the back of the net in stoppage time despite not having threatened for the majority of the half, Mark Hartmann’s corner finding the head of Ngueukam, who towered over everyone to make it 2-0.
United City were riding high coming into the second half and nearly scored two more, as Ricardo Sendra twice found himself on the end of a Hartmann corner, only to see his efforts blaze over. The match would go on, and Digger once again settled into a rhythm, but found scoring opportunities hard to come by, as their frustrations grew.
While Digger found it difficult to create opportunities, it was United City who allowed them to come back into the match. A moment of indecision from Clarino saw the defender clear the ball directly into Jatta’s path, and the forward volleyed the ball past Bandeken to make it 2-1 in the 69th minute.
The match exploded into life. A risky Sendra backpass just a minute later saw Bandeken miscontrol the ball near the corner flag. Mistakenly thinking the ball had gone out, the Cameroonian backtracked, only for Jatta to capitalize on his error, sending an outrageous effort curling into the bottom corner. Digger were in the ascendancy, and Jatta would have completed a 4-minute hat trick and an unbelievable comeback, only to sky his effort over the bar.
Instead, it was Ngueukam who completed his own hat trick in the 82nd minute, heading home substitute Darlton Digha’s cross for the match winner. Jatta would nearly return the favor, but his own header off Ealwhine Dalam’s cross hit the crossbar. Substitute Koffi Bini would seal the victory in the 93rd minute, scoring from close range after Mark Hartmann’s cross caught the Digger defense sleeping.
The match ended 4-2 in yet another scintillating PFL encounter, as United City rose temporarily to 3rd with Digger dropping to 5th, with more close rivals playing tomorrow. Ngueukam’s hat trick catapulted him to 4th overall in the Golden Boot standings and saw him snag the Man of the Match award. United City next face bottom-dwellers Montet on Sunday, May 19, while Digger face the young guns of Tuloy FC later the same day.
