Kaya Iloilo FC ramped up their claim on the PFL title in a Saturday afternoon showcase at the Campo Alcantara in Pavia by comprehensively defeating a game Philippine Army side 6-0.
The Servicemen, who to their credit had woken up and came into the game having gotten points in 3 of their past games, initially kept the lid on thanks to solid defending. However, when Kaya finally broke them down, the Mighty showed no hesitation in pouncing. Robert Lopez Mendy opened the scoring in the 22nd minute after a slick counter-attacking move teed him up to slot past Army netminder John Kent Delariarte with a bounce off the post. Jarvey Gayoso doubled the advantage 6 minutes later after a driving Eric Esso run down the right flank set him up; despite his initial shot being blocked, the ball landed right back in front of him, and he didn’t waste the opportunity.
Kaya grew in confidence after that quick flurry, pushing the attack more and more, and extending their lead to 3 before the break. Marwin Angeles capped off a passing move that the Servicemen didn’t press on the top of the box by running onto Mar Diano’s through ball to net in the 40th minute.
The second half saw more of the same, as Army were unable to establish their attack against Kaya’s tight defensive line, and the Mighty kept picking their potshots. Shuuto Komaki made it 4 for the Yellow and Black just before the hour with a rasping piledriver from outside the box, ballooning the top left corner of the net. Kaya’s 5th of the day came off some friendly fire between Army players, a low cross mistakenly diverted into his own net by otherwise dependable defender Neil Dorimon in the 70th minute.
Jarvey Gayoso capped off the goal sheet with his 20th of the season a mere 4 minutes later, latching on from a Martini Rey through ball and completely wrecking John Kent Delariarte’s ankles on a snapshot to make it 6-0, as Kaya made it 7 wins on the bounce before a titanic clash with Stallion Laguna next Sunday that could all but hand them the championship.
Psychology graduate that’s been down the football rabbit hole since a kiddie camp in 1996. Once made a tryout for Manila Jeepney and a weekend consists of hand-wringing about Manchester United and Stallion Laguna. Can be found spouting opinions on X @FullyVaxxedJ
