MANILA – Jovin Bedic’s fantastic strike in the 2021 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League was not enough to power Kaya-Football Club Iloilo in mauling South Korea’s Ulsan Hyundai.
The team received another blow from South Korea via a 2-1 defeat on Monday night at the Pathum Thani Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand. Kaya-Iloilo slumped to its fourth loss in the Group F, while Ulsan Hyundai maintained its unblemished 4-0 slate.
Bedic, the team captain of the Iloilo City-based football club, became the first Ilonggo booter to deliver a goal with his strike from a cross by Ryo Fujii at the 47th minute.
Ulsan Hyundai, the AFC Champions League’s defending champions, broke the scoreless deadlock at the 27th minute via an unfortunate deflection from Lukas Hinterseer.
The South Koreans were decimated to 10 men at the 31st-minute mark after Kim Minjun was slapped with a red card by the referees following his hard hit on Kaya-Iloilo defender Marco Casambre.
After a goal by Bedic that tied the count at 1-1, Ulsan Hyundai regained the lead as Yoon Bit-garam found himself unmarked in the Kaya-Iloilo box and unleashed a stunning shot against keeper Zach Banzon.
Ilonggo Jan Jesus Melliza came up with a desperate attempt in the stoppage time but was unable to find the target as Ulsan Hyundai kept its hold on the top spot with 12 points.
On the other hand, the United City Football Club still could not find a winning break as it sustained a 2-0 loss handed by Japan’s Kawasaki Frontale at the Lokomotiv Stadium in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
Unlike in their first encounter where the Japanese side won 8-0, United City was able to take hold of the Kawasaki Frontale this time. However, it was not enough to let them stay at the cellar in Group 1 with one point on one draw and three losses.
Kei Chinen initiated the scoring spree for Kawasaki Frontale by connecting past the defense of Anthony Pinthus at the 18th-minute mark. The gap doubled late in the game on a close-range hit by Tatsuya Hasegawa at the 78th-minute mark.
Kaya-Iloilo will again seek its first victory in the tournament on Thursday evening against BG Pathum United of Thailand, while the United City looks to win its match over China’s Beijing Guoan./PN
