MANILA – Arda Cinkir continued his fine play for the Dynamic Herb-Cebu Football Club as they cruised to a 1-0 victory over Maharlika Manila Football Club in Philippines Football League on Tuesday at the PFF National Training Center in Carmona, Cavite.
The 20-year-old booter connected early in the opening half for the Cebuano-based booters. They surged to solo second place in the standings with 14 points, on four wins, two draws and a loss.
This was also Cinkir’s seventh goal in the 2022-2023 PFL season, with his last five connections coming from Dynamic Herb-Cebu’s back-to-back victories over Mendiola 1991 FC and Maharlika.
The Hatay, Turkey-native Cinkir was the difference maker for Dynamic Herb-Cebu as he converted a fine finish from close range past the defense of Maharlika with just three minutes into the contest.
The Cebuanos attempted to widen the lead further after that, while Maharlika Manila also had close opportunities to equalize the game but the defense of both camps held on until the halftime break.
Come the second half, Dynamic Herb-Cebu continued to test the defense of Maharlika Manila in hopes of repeating their 5-1 domination during their first encounter but to no avail.
Dynamic Herb-Cebu’s Marius Kore skied his attempt off a pass from Mert Altinoz but was thwarted by Maharlika Manila keeper while Cinkir had a sniff at goal outside the box which went wide.
Near the end of the match, Kore attempted to enter the scoring column anew with a free kick after drawing a foul from an opposing player but he failed to hit the target as the ball went over the bar.
With this close defeat, Maharlika-Manila remained at the last place of the seven-team field as they have yet to tally a point after seven matches this season.
Dynamic Herb-Cebu will try to extend their winning streak further this Saturday against Mendiola 1991 Football Club. That game will be played at the City of Imus Grandstand at 4 p.m./PN
