Kaya FC dominates Mendiola; Inches closer to elusive league title

Photo Credits: Philippines Football League

With three games remaining in their season, Kaya FC-Iloilo worked hard to prove that the title is ripe for their reaping this 2022-23 season of the Philippines Football league brought to us by Qatar Airways.

The hunt for the elusive title in the PFL may be coming to a close for current league leaders Kaya FC-Iloilo after 6-1 victory over Mendiola FC 1991. Still remembering the pains from the 2020 season, Kaya FC dominated the opposition and made sure that they won't suffer the same fate this year.

The goals from Milad Beghandom, Mar Vincent Diano, Jarvey Gayoso, and a brace from Eric Giganto allowed the Ilonggo-based booters to widen the gap at the top of the standings by five points with Dynamic Cebu FC having a game at hand and won't start their last three matches of the season for the next three weeks.

Kaya opened the scoring after a tiki-taka sequence of play inside the box. The play started with Fitch Arboleda exchanging passes with Dylan Nobiraki who then found Beghandom past Michael Asong to score the first goal in the 26th minute. The brave men of Mendiola, on the other hand, was able to hold the league leaders to just a goal in the first half after numerous attacks.

When the second half started, Mendiola FC 1991 seemed to have found their momentum as they were able to string a couple of passes but Junior Sam couldn't seem to find his scoring boots either from the touchline or the locker room. In the 68th minute, Diano scored thanks to a corner from Jhanjhan Melliza.

There was a bit of confusion in the final 10 minutes of the match before Kaya scored another goal. In the 79th minute, Joshua Polinag felt a cramp in his left leg resulting to Kaya kicking the ball out for fair play. However, when the play resumed, substitute Jarvey Gayoso got the ball from a Mendiola FC defender before he passed it to Giganto who slotted it into the back of an open net.

Knowing they have disobeyed a gentleman's agreement, Kaya then gave the goal back when they allowed Sam to score a goal into an open net. Not wanting to stop with just four goals, Gayoso added another one for Kaya in the 87th minute. Giganto capped off the night for Kaya with a curler in the 90th minute. Asong had a touch of the ball but the sheer power and curve of the strike was enough to break through the top left corner.

"We still have our motivation for the title. That is really the key for us," said by the soft-spoken coach Yu Hoside. As of writing, Kaya FC-Iloilo sits at the top of the pecking order with 49 points, five points ahead of Cebu FC.

Man of the match Daizo Horikoshi was a bit shy to talk to the media as he felt not worthy of the award but his assist and contributions in the match earned him another MOTM recognition. "Man of the match? Really, me? I didn't score but this game is really important for us. That's good for us (the win)," said Horikoshi.

Kaya will now go into a break and will be back on the 20th of May when they face Maharlika Manila FC and will cap off the season on the 27th of May against Stallion Laguna FC. Meanwhile, other league title contenders Cebu FC will be back on the 21st as they face Stallion Laguna FC and again on the 24th of May. They will end their three-game home stand on the 27th of May against the Azkals Development Team. This has been, by far, the tightest league season ever in the Philippines and it will surely go down the wire until the final matchday.