This weekend’s PFL slate got off to the best start for those who watch it for the goals, as One Taguig FC absolutely swamped Garelli United with 17 unanswered goals on Saturday afternoon.
The Lighthousemen, coming off a 7-1 win last week against Loyola, came out swinging but were initially stymied by a determined Garelli backline and a controlled high line that attempted to catch them offside early on. Things took a turn, however, in the 18th minute. Taher Jahanbakhsh drilled an audacious backheel past Garelli netminder Beejay Dagdag after a Stephan Schrock cross was tapped on by Naoto Hiraishi. Not more than 90 seconds later, the Lighthousemen doubled their lead.
A midfield interception went Schrock’s way and was driven into the path of Tsukasa Shimomura, who put it into the back of the net. The quickfire double seemingly broke the Greywolves’ spirits and opened the floodgates towards that basketball scoreline. Shimomura scored his second and Taguig’s third in the 23rd minute off a booming free kick that bounded downwards from the crossbar. He completed his hat-trick in the 27th minute after fighting off three orange-clad defenders to slot it past the already overstretched Dagdag to make it 4-0 to the boys in white.
Nano Amita added a fifth in the 32nd minute after another gilt-edged pass by Schrock opened the path for him to score. Shimomura netted his fourth two minutes later after Dagdag bobbled a Patrick Grogg cross right into his path. He would not spurn the opportunity, and he scored his fifth of the day in the 39th minute after being the first to a deep Schrock cross and wiggling past the besieged Dagdag.
Naoto Hiraishi finally got on the scoresheet himself not a minute later after a peach of a through ball from Shimomura, making the scoreline a ludicrous 8-0. Taher Jahanbakhsh bookended the first half’s scoring, hitting his second of the day at the start of stoppage time, cleaning up a broken play in the box as Hiraishi pocketed another assist, sending the Greywolves packing to the dugout with a 9-0 lead.
The second half turned out to be more of the same, as OneTaguig continued beating on the hapless Garelli side. Shimomura sealed his double hat-trick in the 49th minute after a driving run into the box by Patrick Grogg. Andres Aldeguer got on the scoresheet himself two minutes later, the youngster tapping in off a carbon copy of Grogg’s run by Nano Amita to make it 11-0 at that point. After a sizable lull, brightened by the introduction of Ed Sacapaño in goal, Taguig hit the dozen in the 66th minute.
Substitute Garelli netminder John Misagal brainlessly bundled Naoto Hiraishi down after a broken play, and Taher Jahanbakhsh completed his own hat-trick from the resulting penalty. Second-half substitute Izzo el-Habib joined in the scoring bacchanalia in the 70th minute, nodding in off a cross from a short free kick to make it 13-0. Naoto Hiraishi hit his brace four minutes later off another run down the exploited left flank to make it 14-0.
After yet another lull, One Taguig hit 15 as Yannick Tuason laid it off for Izzo el-Habib to hit his brace in the 80th minute. The pain kept on coming for the overmatched Greywolves as Yannick Tuason scored himself in the 88th minute, the veteran driving in from the right side of the box after another Schrock through ball to make it a sweet sixteen for the Lighthousemen. Finally, Naoto Hiraishi completed his own hat-trick at the door of stoppage time to make it 17-0. Mercifully, Garelli did not have to pick the ball out of the back of their own net again after that one.
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
