Kaya Overcomes Lethargic First Half To Stay In Title Hunt, Pasargad Earns Crucial Point Against Stallion

Kaya pushed its winning streak to five games on Tuesday night, overcoming a stubborn Philippine Army-GTI at the Emperador Stadium to keep its title push on track. Although the final 5-1 scoreline rightly reflected a one-sided affair, heading into half-time both sides were still level pegging at a goal apiece – prompting a tongue lashing from Kaya head coach David Perkovic during the break. In the later match, Pasargad stood firm against defending champions Stallion Giligan’s to earn a precious goalless draw.

After 21 days without a game due to the releasing of players for national team duty in Qatar, there were questions over Kaya’s ability to continue its winning momentum. When in form striker Pablo Rodriguez headed in Anton Del Rosario’s delicious cross two minutes into the match, it looked as if those concerns were unfounded. But John Cain ran onto Nestorio Margarse Jr.’s perfectly weighted through ball on the 16th minute, and fired clinically into the bottom corner to level the score. For the rest of the half, Kaya looked rather lost, and at times on the back foot against the Armed Forces side.

“Maybe a blasting at half-time from me,” said Perkovic when asked about the key to his team’s victory. “I wasn’t happy at all with our first half performance. The players knew about it and they responded in the second half.”

OJ Porteria set the tone immediately after the break with a great finish from the edge of the area. The tricky attacker had his defender twisting and turning before he buried the ball in the bottom corner to regain the lead. Christian Ayew doubled the advantage ten minutes later, getting the vital touch to Chris Greatwich’s clever first time pass into the box. Substitutes Thomas Taylor and Emmanuel Mbata added the finishing touches late in the game. Taylor fired a rocket from outside the box into the left corner, while Mbata marked his return from injury with a powerful header into the same spot.

“The long layoff wasn’t difficult. It was actually quite good for us in that we had a few niggling injuries and we had a chance to get over most of them. The difficult part was the late change of schedule. I’m a perfectionist, I plan a lot. When things change three days before a game, it’s unprofessional, it makes my job very difficult,” said Perkovic.

Kaya moved back up to second with 36 points after the victory, only two points behind leaders Global, who still have a game in hand.

This post-match is from the official website of the United Football League (UFL). You may read the full and original post-match report from the UFL here.

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