MANILA – Kaya Futbol Club-Iloilo reached the semifinals of the 2021 Copa Paulino Alcantara following a 6-0 beating of Mendiola 1991 Football Club on Wednesday night at the PFF National Training Center in Carmona, Cavite.
Ilonggo Jovin Bedic scored two goals, while Ryo Fujii, Kenshiro Daniels, Daizo Horikoshi, and Carlyle Mitchell had a goal each. Kaya-Iloilo topped Group B with 2-0 for six points.
Bedic made his presence felt early for Kaya-Iloilo. He took advantage of a failed clearance off Mendiola’s Miggy Clarino to score past Michael Asong at the 10th minute mark.
The Ilonggo booter doubled the advantage at the 35th minute. He converted on the pass of Horikoshi. Kaya-Iloilo made it 3-0 before the break with Fujii netting a long-range strike.
Mendiola 1991 showed some life early in the second half with multiple shot attempts but were prevented by Kaya-Iloilo defense. The Ilonggos then connected their fourth goal with Daniels 63rd minute hit inside the penalty box.
Horikoshi added to Kaya-Iloilo’s rampage with a lovely run into the box at the 84th minute before Mitchell netted the team’s sixth goal with his close range shot in the added time.
“I am pleased with our performance. The players did well. Game by game, we’re getting even better. So in the next game, we look to still do better,” Kaya-Iloilo head coach Yu Hoshide said.
The Iloilo City-based football club, the 2018 Copa Paulino Alcantara champions, will battle Group A second placer Dynamic Herb-Cebu in the crossover semifinals next week.
The Cebu-based football club suffered a 1-0 defeat to Stallion-Laguna FC in the second game behind the second half conversion of Abou Sy.
Mendiola 1991 (0-0-1; 3 points, -6 on goal difference) needed to win against the Azkals Development Team (0-0-1; 3 points and -2 on GD) on November 13 to complete the semifinals./PN
