Kaya FC-Iloilo’s Blazing Start Secures Victory Against Stallion Head Coach Yu Hoshide reflects on Iloilo’s well fought afternoon in Biñan.

Ask and you shall receive. The coaching staff emphasized the importance of starting strong all week, and the squad’s response was to hit the ground running right from kickoff. Kaya FC-Iloilo went into the Biñan Football Stadium and came away with three goals, a clean sheet, and all three points against Stallion Laguna FC. 

Iloilo bookended the match by adding to the scoresheet, bypassing Stallion’s staunch defense in both the early and late game. A spirited attack from the jump earned a Daizo Horikoshi set piece in just the fourth minute of action—which Jarvey Gayoso put away with a flick of his left foot. Mar Diano soon followed it up, scoring on a rebound in the 13th minute.  

“I’m happy with the result, especially with the clean sheet.” noted head coach Yu Hoshide. “We’ve had some slow starts recently, but we had energy starting from kickoff. That’s why we were able to win today.”

Arnel Amita added the cherry on top, sending a laser into the top right corner in the 92nd minute. Fitch Arboleda squared the ball in from the right to Jovin Bedic, who drew the attention of all the defenders in the area. This freed up Nano, to whom he let the ball pass to for the game’s final shot.

This result holds significance in the ongoing PFL title race, with Iloilo pulling out a win over the same Laguna side that recently drew with second place Cebu FC. Now eight points clear in the standings, the path ahead remains clear and the mission unchanged. 

“We have to win all our games, that’s still the same. We’re still on the way, so we have to try our best all the time,” affirmed Coach Yu. 

The Japanese tactician espoused the value of quality practice, it being directly related to the amount of effort he’s able to get out of the squad. 

“We’re still building up. We can still improve more, so training is really important for us,” Hoshide noted. “Recently, our training intensity and motivation have been really good from the players; and that showed in our game today,” 

Up next, it’s back to the Rizal Memorial Stadium for a meeting with the Azkals Development Team; which also happens to be Kaya’s final fixture for Round 3.

 

Player Spotlight: 

Jazzy Jarvey
In his return to the starting lineup, Gayoso wasted no time adding his name back on the scoresheet with a fancy flick of a finish. The forward’s goal tally stands at eight so far, just three shy of Horikoshi’s eleven in what’s shaping up to be a potential one-two finish for Kaya in the Golden Boot race.  

Jarvey also provided invaluable pressing while leading the line, making things difficult for Stallion to build up while Iloilo was out of possession. 

Zach’s Zen
In order to protect the early lead, Kaya played with tremendous discipline in keeping their defensive shape compact. However, Stallion was hungry for a comeback and relentlessly worked to pry open any gaps they could and would find. 

When those moments of danger arrived, Banzon stepped up and took care of business time and time again. Consistently cool, calm, and connected: the captain directed his defense, plucked crosses out of the air, and made key saves. This included a heroic one-on-one sequence that he saved with his feet in the first half. 

Simo’s Aerial Supremacy
Unlike the previous two matches, Kaya’s backline was kept fairly busy by the aggressiveness of Laguna’s attackers. Crosses into Kaya’s box came proudly and often, but the wily veteran was always just one step ahead of them. Rota put on an aerial clearance clinic, successfully keeping Stallion at bay for the all-important clean sheet.