The title race in the PFL tightened up after the third week of action, as champions Kaya-Iloilo made it clear of their intention to retain the title after thumping Maharlika Taguig with a 10-1 victory to conclude the Rizal Memorial tripleheaders last Sunday evening.
Yu Hoshide’s men were merciless in outmatching their opponents, as the trio of Shuto Komaki, Jhan-Jhan Melliza, and Jarvey Gayoso led them to their third straight win in as many matches, keeping pace with the current leaders, Stallion Laguna.
It took just five minutes for Gayoso to hit the ground running for Kaya, with Melliza following suit 13 minutes later. Although Lucas Del Rosario pulled one back after the former FEU standout struck his first, Kaya hit their afterburners straightaway to tear Maharlika apart, with Komaki completing a first-half hat-trick in just 24 minutes, and Gayoso completing his double, with the titleholders leading 6-1 at the break.
Kaya then scored three more goals in the span of a dozen minutes at the restart, with Melliza getting his brace followed by Marco Casambre and skipper Audie Menzi to make it 9-1, forcing Mamadou Sene to be replaced by Jay Mendez in the Maharlika goal.
But that was deemed irrelevant to the cause as Eric Esso then put the finishing touches on the final count in the 76th minute, as Maharlika’s day went from bad to worse after Viktor Nkoa was sent off five minutes before full-time.
The midfielder slapped Fitch Arboleda after the latter got away with a tough challenge on Dante Terando, but Nkoa received a straight red card and was sent off.
Maharlika Taguig: Sene (GK) (Mendez 63’), Bouazzaoui, Canicosa (Terando 63’), L. Del Rosario, Baguio, Basa (Abo 46’), Mailly, Nkoa, Ousman (Jamon 46’), A. Del Rosario ©, Basana (Otuyemi 46’)
Kaya-Iloilo: Walid Birou (GK), Saito, Melliza (Lopez-Mendy 58’), Komaki (DK Lee 71’), Casambre, Gayoso (Angeles 71’), YY Park (Swainston 58’), Arboleda, Esso, Menzi ©, Yamazaki (Bedic 71’)
