Manila, Philippines — On a sunny afternoon at Rizal Memorial Stadium, Kaya FC-Iloilo got back to winning ways after defeating the Azkals Development team 0-1.
Robert Lopez Mendy lined up at the tip of the spear ahead of a midfield tandem of Daizo Horikoshi and Arnel Amita. Flanking them on the wings were Jarvey Gayoso and Jhanjhan Melliza, and locking down the space behind was Patrick Arthur. Simone Rota and Mar Diano formed our center-back duo, while Marco Casambre and Fitch Arboleda slot in at left and right-back, respectively. Kenry Balobo manned the goal line for his second start of the season.
The match got off to a rather slow start for the yellow and black, who actually conceded more of the possession in the early stages than fans have grown accustomed to seeing. It didn’t take long for the boys to settle into the flow of things however, and they began picking apart the ADT press and slicing into the final third.
The first chance of the game for Kaya came in the 12th minute courtesy of Daizo Horikoshi. Arnel Amita sent a long through ball up the left flank to Marco Casambre, who then picked out Jarvey Gayoso whose dummy run freed up the speedster inside the box. Unfortunately, the final touch ended up sliding just wide of the right post.
It was after this point, however, that Iloilo ramped up the pace and began creating chances—stretching the Young Azkals’ defensive formation thin with methodical build up play from the back. The team’s patience paid off in spectacular fashion in the 28th minute.
The possession started off with Kenry Balobo rolling the ball to Simone Rota, and the Kaya backline began swinging it from side to side to invite pressure from ADT’s forwards. The midfield got involved as play progressed backward for a moment, before an opening was wrenched open up the right touchline.
Fitch Arboleda evaded an oncoming tackle with a crafty move before passing it forward to Jhan Melliza in space. The winger connected with Daizo who was charging up the middle before playing a beautiful through ball to Robert Lopez Mendy—which the striker struck first time and buried in the bottom left corner. (0-1)
A total of 14 passes were made leading up to the phenomenally clean finish, a beautifully executed team goal that marks Robert’s first entry on the scoring sheet for the 2022 PFL Season.
Not much changed through the halftime break, though the ADT were able to find their groove on several occasions to launch several dangerous counter attacks. Despite this, Kaya put on a much better showing on the defensive end than they did in their last game—protecting the clean sheet until the final whistle.
Iloilo had their chances to well and truly put the game away, especially on the multiple set pieces they earned towards the end of the second half. Though several chances were left on the table in this match, the win is three points all the same; and Kaya have successfully bounced back to retake the top spot in the league standings.
Coach Yu Hoshide utilized four of his five available substitutions on the afternoon: sending in Ryo Fujii and Marwin Angeles for Arnel Amita and Patrick Arthur in the 61st minute, relieving Jhan Melliza for Eric Giganto in the 71st, and replacing Jarvey Gayoso with Jovin Bedic in the 88th to close out the game. The sole entry into the referee’s book was Arthur, who received a yellow card following an altercation with Stephan Schrock in the 34th.
For Iloilo’s next fixture, the team will be catching a flight to face Dynamic Herb Cebu FC—a Visayas Derby rematch on the Gentle Giant’s home field on Sunday, October 9th.
