Kaya seal historic first away win in AFC Cup in style
Kaya FC added another magical evening in their maiden AFC Cup campaign, as they sealed their first away win in the competition in style. Goals from Alfred Osei, Kenshiro Daniels, and Louis Clark lifted the Filipino club to a commanding 3–0 victory at the Jalan Besar Stadium in Singapore.
Although technically in hostile territory, the stadium atmosphere, buoyed by a majority of strong Filipino support, felt strangely like Kaya never left the Philippines. And within 15 minutes, the crowd was on its feet, as Alfred Osei rose the highest to head in Kenshiro Daniels’ corner kick.
Before the half-hour mark, Daniels turned goal scorer to double the advantage. Played in by Jovin Bedic’s wonderfully placed dink in behind the Balestier defense, Kenshiro took a touch to steady himself before calmly firing into the bottom corner.
The second half saw the introduction of Louis Clark, who missed Kaya’s famous back-to-back home wins due to injury. The Englishman would go on to seal the impressive win with a cooly taken breakaway goal in the 73rd minute. But before he could make his contribution, Australian goalkeeper Matthew Acton, first made a crucial penalty save to preserve the Filipino side’s two-goal advantage.
After dropping their opening AFC Cup game to Kitchee, Kaya have sealed three-straight wins to solidify their hold of top spot in Group F with nine points. Two points from their last two assignments would guarantee a place in the Round of 16, an achievement yet to be unlocked by any Filipino club.
Kaya next face Hong Kong giants Kitchee on April 26 at the Rizal Memorial Stadium, before flying to Maldives to play New Radiant on May 10.
[standings league_id=11 template=compact logo=true]
