UFL: Kaya win their second game, against disgraced Army side

New Kaya head coach David Perkovic picked up a 3-0 win against the Army in a match that ended in a far from ordinary way, as Rodrigo Betita was slapped with a red card for kicking an official, Tuesday at the Emperador Stadium. After a fairly even start to the game, Kaya took the lead near the end of the first half as Sean Iliff slotted in from the counterattack, before OJ Porteria blasted a shot into the top corner at around the hour mark of the game. Substitute Janrick Soriano wrapped up the game in injury time, after hitting the post a moment earlier, clipping the ball past Ed Sacapano on the counterattack, as three goals won the three points for Kaya. The game however ended on a sour note as the Army lost their heads. After the third goal, substitutes berated the linesman for not calling offside, before Rodrigo Betita received a pass in his own half, turned, then kicked the ball at the linesman. Surprisingly, that only earned Betita a yellow card, but he wasn't quite done yet, bringing further shame on the Armed Forces as he went over to the official and kicked him in the leg to receive the red. First half Kaya came flying out of the blocks, as first, Dario Dakic tested Ed Sacapano from a free-kick, before Sean Illif found some space on the edge of the area and hit low to Sacapano’s right. Sacapano got down quickly to get a palm to the ball before making himself big for Alu Kigbu’s follow-up, to complete a double save in the opening minutes. Then after Dagroh fired wide, the Army got into the game as Relan Bretana was brought down by Jim Munoz 25-yards out. The Army man lashed out at Munoz though, and was lucky to escape punishment for the intentional kick. The free-kick, meanwhile, took a deflection and looped towards the top corner before Saba Sadeghi palmed away in the 12th minute. Illif headed wide in the 16th minute and as Eric Dagroh burst past his man in the 19th, Dagroh accidentally trod on Eduardo Gempisaw’s leg after he slid in to tackle well and prevent the shot. However, Gempisaw reacted angrily and stood up to Dagroh, trying to intimidate him while the Kaya forward was on the floor, before bizarrely trying to feign injury by going down and clutching his leg in a cynical attempt to get him booked. It was just the first display of emotion and anger by an Army side frustrated by their start to the season, which has left them with one point in five games, but they almost went ahead as Boogie Margarse looped a long cross to the back post and Bretana clipped the ball just wide at the half-hour mark. Then the Army started to get the upper hand as Roel Gener controlled the ball and volleyed acrobatically at goal with a bicycle kick, but Sadeghi was up to the task and dived to his left to palm the ball away again. Kaya then went down the other end a minute later and Alu Kigbu slipped in OJ Porteria on the left, but as he opened his body to shoot, the Army defense recovered to slide in and block the shot. Kaya finally broke the deadlock in the 43rd minute as they picked up on a poor pass in the middle of the pitch to set up the counterattack, passing out to the right for Eric Dagroh. With three on one for Kaya, Dagroh picked out Sean Illiff at the back post and he sent it back across Ed Sacapano to find the net and put Kaya in front as the Army’s defense seemed to completely wander away from their duties. Just before halftime OJ Porteria got the first yellow card of the game as he continued to question the referee’s call. But the official then stopped the game for an injured player as an Army forward lay on the floor during a Kaya counterattack, something which isn’t actually allowed. Yet as the decisions favoring the Armed Forces teams, even ones contrary to the rules of football, continued to mount up, the Army couldn’t take advantage and went into the break a goal behind. Second half David Perkovic, Kaya’s new 31-year-old Australian coach, made a few changes at halftime as a defensive reshuffle pushed Dario Dakic into midfield with Chris Greatwich. And soon into the half they had a legitimate shout for a penalty. Sean Iliff had control of the ball in the box, but the referee missed the Army defender going through Iliff's bac without touching the ball. A free-kick just outside the area was then thwarted by Sacapano, who dived well to beat the ball away, as Kaya looked to double their lead and make the points safe. But a defensive mix-up gave Becite the chance to shoot from over 30-yards out, trying to lob Sadghi, who had to palm the ball away. Luckily for him, it spun just wide of the goal. Army picked up their first yellow card of the game as Bretana intentionally barged into Sadghi after he gathered the cross, with Bretana then laying on the keeper’s legs, who also reacted angrily. They then brought off the hot-headed defender for Rodrigo Betita to prevent themselves going a man down. Straight after the substitution though, OJ Porteria made it 2-0 in a classy way, picking up the ball on the edge of the area and arrowing a shot into the top corner of the net in the 63rd minute. Porteria made way for Tohsiya Hosoe in the 75th minute, before Janrick Soriano came on for Alu Kigbu soon after. After Luisito Brillantes came out for Romano Vistal, John Cain got booked, and Nate Burkey replaced Sean Iliff, followed by Eric Dagroh making way for Kenshiro Daniels. Janrick Soriano made the biggest impact though, as he picked up the ball on the right and blasted against the angle of the goal. A minute later, and into injury time, he controlled in a similar position, dribbled closer to goal, and hit the ball into the ground as it trickled into the net to guarantee the win. Frustrated, the Army berated the linesman for not calling offside and continued shouting. Betita lost his cool and kicked the ball at the linesman. As the referee blew, Betita went to the linesman and kicked him, a few moments passing before the referee finally showed the red card to a disgraced Betita.   What’s next for the teams After this victory Kaya move up to fifth in the league, three points behind Nomads in fourth. They will be looking to continue picking up points against a struggling PSG next, on March 21, as they get a positive goal difference for the first time in the league and look to push on from there. The Army, meanwhile, will clash with the Air Force in probably the most heated derby in the UFL First Division. Adding to the rivalry the game is now a relegation six-pointer with the Armed Forces teams currently the most likely to follow Navy down into the Second Division. Expect a very physical and intense game. - AMD, GMA News