UFL: Driven Loyola shoot down Air Force with both sides one man down

The Loyola Meralco Sparks exploded for a 4-0 victory over the Air Force, Thursday at the Emperador Stadium, with Mark Hartmann leading the way. The younger brother of Matthew Hartmann opened the scoring in the second minute, latching onto a perfect, chipped through ball as Loyola were dominant early on. The Sparks were denied a clear penalty as the obvious foul wasn’t called, leading to Chad Gould being sent off later in the half for his second yellow card. After the break, Phil Younghusband scored early to give his side a commanding lead. Freddy Gonzales then tapped in a Mark Hartmann cross before Hartmann scored his second of the game, chesting the ball down and shooting from just outside the area to complete a dominant 4-0 scoreline. Hartmann again put in a performance that should make the National Team management reconsider him for the Azkals, pulling the strings in midfield with two assists and two goals. With the win, Loyola leapfrogs Stallions and Global to the top position with nine points. Though all three teams have won three and scored nine goals also, Loyola’s single conceded goal is one less than their rivals, with Global’s 5-1 in over the Green Archers on Tuesday night and Stallion’s 2-1 win over the Army earlier that evening. First half Loyola Meralco Sparks were looking to maintain their own clean winning record, going up against their usual kryptonite, the Air Force, to make it three wins out of three. After Global, on Tuesday night, and the Stallions, earlier that evening, had won their third in a row, Loyola needed to put the pressure on the Air Force to keep up. The Sparks did just that in the opening minutes. With plenty of time, Hartmann slotted the ball in to open the scoring early in the game giving Loyola the perfect start, and the Azkals management another reason to consider calling him up again. Later in the half, Neckson Leonora took out his man inside the box with a forearm. A clear push inside the area, it should have been a penalty, but the officials decided otherwise and Loyola were left fuming. Things got worse for Loyola when Chad Gould was sent off for dragging his man back and the team had to rearrange their line-up to make up for the hole it left. Still, they managed to go back to the dressing room up a goal. Second half Scoring early in the first half, Loyola made just as good a start to the second when Phil Younghusband doubled their lead in the 52nd minute. A poor clearance from the Air Force was picked up by Mark Hartmann, who found the Azkals’ striker open on the right, and he fired powerfully into the top corner. It was the perennial UFL top scorer’s first goal of the season and the Air Force began losing their cool as Vince Braga got his second yellow card in the 59th minute, throwing the ball at the back of Matthew Hartmann from a throw-in. Braga really let down his team as 2-0 behind, his side joined Loyola on ten men in the game and lost any advantage they could have had. The Air Force almost pulled a goal back minutes later though, but Ian Araneta’s header was turned wide by Ref Cuaresma with a good, reflex save. Phil Younghusband and Neckson Leonora got booked for tussling with each other as things continued to get fiery and Loyola countered from the free-kick with some smart passing, but they were caught just offside. Then in the 69th minute, Phil Younghusband received a great cross from the left by Freddy Gonzales, but with no one around him, just eight yards out, he shot too close to Kenneth Dolloso, who pulled off the good save with his right foot. He couldn’t keep out Loyola’s third though, as Freddy Gonzales got himself on the scoresheet in the 78th minute, for get his third goal in three games. Mark Hartmann again supplied the ball and with Phil Younghusband and Freddy Gonzales both in space at the backpost, it was Gonzales who tapped in. Phil Younghusband was then replaced by his brother James, who made his first appearance of the season, before Neckson Leonora came off for Glenn Bulaquina. Davide Cortina came on for Jeong Byeong Yeol before Matthew Hartmann made way for Jang Jo Won. Jang almost got himself on the scoresheet instantly, forcing Dolloso into a solid save to his right, before Alexander Elnar came on for Freddy Gonzales. Elnar did have an instant impact, crossing the ball for Mark Hartmann to chest down into space and drive the ball into the bottom corner as Hartmann underlined a dominant performance to show he is one of the best players in the league. Next fixtures The Air Force will be disappointed with losing both their opening games of the season and they’ll be looking to bounce back against the Green Archers, and their former captain, Chieffy Caligdong in their next fixture. Racking up their third straight win after they were knocked out by Kaya in the quarterfinals of the PFF National Club Championships, Loyola will be happy with the 4-0 win over the team which beat them in the Final of the UFL Cup and had a huge role in why they didn’t win the last UFL. Loyola will be up against PSG, confident of keeping that winning streak going as the UFL continues to heat up.  - AMD, GMA News