Destiny: Kaya Win UFL Cup
Kaya FC’s dream of a long awaited silverware has finally come to reality. Ten-man Kaya defeated Ceres La Salle, 4-2 in penalties (2-2 after extra time), to win the UFL Cup in a capacity grandstand crowd at the Rizal Memorial Stadium last night.
It was a fitting end to the UFL season for the newly crowned Cup champions. By winning the UFL Cup, Kaya qualified to the AFC Cup play-off round. They join League champions Ceres La Salle, who earned direct qualification to the AFC Cup Group Stage, as the country’s representatives in the competition.
Goalkeeper Nick O’Donnell put on a match-winning performance for Kaya. The former Ateneo custodian made two crucial saves in the shootout to lift his team to their first title since 2009.
Both teams were missing a vital cog in the match. Kaya’s Alfred Osei and Ceres’ Manny Ott were suspended due to card accumulation. Patrick Yao and Paul Mulders started in the absence of the two players.
Kaya top scorer Tishan Hanley came close to scoring in the sixth minute. The forward met Chris Greatwich’s cross with a header but Louie Casas made a timely save.
Jovin Bedic could also have scored in the 12th minute. The forward slotted a shot past Casas but the referee called a foul on Hanley prior to the goal.
The Bacolod side dominated rest of the first half, but Kaya still found the breakthrough right before half-time.
Diego Barrera found Hanley free in the box and the St. Kitts and Nevis international wasted no time in sending the ball past a scampering Casas. Kaya led at half-time, 1-0.
The Mexican doubled Kaya’s lead in the 56th minute. Bedic found Barrera in the box, and the midfielder pounced on the volley to send the ball to the underside of the cross bar and in.
However, the League champions did not just fold. Lee Jeong Woo brought the life back to Ceres in the 63rd minute. The Korean striker sent a right-footed shot towards the far post that ricocheted in.
Concerns mounted for Kaya in the 66th minute. Greatwich received a second bookable offense after an altercation with Lee. The Kaya midfielder stayed on the pitch for two minutes when the match official failed to issue a red card immediately following the second yellow card.
Ceres skipper Juani Guirado completed the comeback for the Bacolodnons in the 73rd minute. The defender headed Martin Steuble’s free kick past O’Donnell.
Kaya, even if they were a man down, withstood Ceres’ never-ending barrage on goal to force extra time. However, the additional 30 minutes of action was not enough to separate both sides and a penalty shootout was needed to crown the winner.
O’Donnell ruled the penalty shoot out with two penalty saves. The first one came from Mulders, whose weak shot O’Donnell caught. The second, and the most crucial of all, came from Steuble. O’Donnell figured out exactly where Steuble would send his ball and jumped on it right after the shot. For Ceres, Casas was able to to deny Kenshiro Daniels’ spot kick. Similar to their semifinal win against Stallion, it was Louis Clark who scored the winning penalty for Kaya.
Check out the match photos HERE.
This post-match was originally posted on football.com.ph. You may read the full report and other Philippine football news and features here.
