MANILA – Kaya Futbol Club-Iloilo showed its strength with a 3-0 beating of the University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons in the first leg of the two-leg 2023 Copa Paulino Alcantara quarterfinals over the weekend at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium.
Jarvey Gayoso was named the Man of the Match after scoring two goals, while Robert Lopez-Mendy added a conversion each as the Iloilo-based booters gained an early headway in the playoffs.
“The game was intense and, since it was a home-and-away situation, we have to be ready for the next one,” said Gayoso. “UP fought hard and you don’t expect anything from UP but fight hard.”
The Colum Curtis-mentored Kaya-Iloilo captured the advantage in the 14th minute as Gayoso found himself in the perfect position to send a shallow clearance into the back of the net.
Gayoso, formerly of the Ateneo de Manila University, doubled the advantage for the Iloilo City-based football club in the 53rd minute as he converted a header from a missed free kick by Daizo Horikoshi.
Lopez-Mendy then put the game from within reach as he had a clinical finish from close range in the 87th minute after he got the nice pass from his Kaya-Iloilo teammate Curt Dizon.
“It’s a good win for us, we got the full three points and, hopefully no one stayed injured for us,” said Kaya-Iloilo assistant coach Yu Hoshide. “We just have to focus on our second leg game.”
Also taking an early lead in the two-leg quarters is Stallion-Laguna Football Club as they scored a 5-0 domination over Maharlika Manila. Cristian Ivanobski led the team with two goals, while Yuta Nomura, Zazhary Ford and Ilonggo Ruben Doctora scored one each.
Dynamic Herb Cebu Football Club, on the other hand, cruised to a 2-0 triumph over Mendiola Manila FC. Ryoo Togashi drew first blood for the Cebuanos in the first half before being followed by the second connection of Arda Cinkir.
Davao Aguilas – UMAK FC, for their part, took home a one-goal advantage over CF Manila in the opening leg of their two-leg quarterfinals. Troy Limbo made the difference for the winning team with his first half goal./PN
