UFL: Kaya burns Socceroo, Global blanks Pasargad, Army-GTI draws with Pachanga 

It was a wild weekend in UFL action at the Emperador Stadium. On Saturday, Kaya FC won, 4-2, over an aggressive Team Socceroo FC squad. In the second game, Global FC blanked faltering Pasargad FC, 7-0. In the lone First Division game on Sunday, a 10-man Army-GTI FC forced a scoreless draw with Pachanga PLDT Home Fibr FC.

Kaya sends feisty Socceroo further down

Kaya looked confident striding onto the pitch on Saturday. They were coming off a 9-0 whipping of Pasargad FC, and their swagger paid off, as Ayew Egba made the opening goal just six minutes into the game.

But at the 13th minute, Team Socceroo equalized via a penalty kick by Lee Jeong Woo. The penalty was because of a yellow card shown to Kaya’s Andrew Liauw. After that, Socceroo went aggressive on offense, seeing more chances than Kaya for a period of time.

At the 39th minute, Jeong Woo sent Socceroo up 2-1. The Korean was about halfway on Kaya's side of the pitch and lofted the ball over everyone including Kaya keeper Nick O’Donnell.

Socceroo keeper Guillerme Hasegawa had a monster save in added time, ensuring that Thomas Luke Taylor would not equalize for Kaya. However, Anton del Rosario made just that happen, with a Karate Kid-esque form inside the box. The header eluded Hasegawa's hands and made it 2-2 at the half.

There was immediate high-octane action upon the teams’ return to the pitch in the second half. Pablo Rodriguez then put Kaya up by a goal at the 57th minute, smashing through the Socceroo defense off an assist by Kenshiro Daniels.

It was also Daniels who made it 4-2 for Kaya FC at the 73rd, Daniels skipped inside the box and found Hasegawa rooted to his spot, seemingly unsure of the teenager’s next move. Daniels simply rolled the ball into the goal.

There were no more clear chances for Socceroo late in the second half, as Kaya ran the show.

The game ended at 4-2 for Kaya FC, who are still in third place, but are now seven points clear of Stallion FC. Socceroo remains in eighth, but have the worst goal difference in the First Division, conceding 58 goals and making only 17 in 15 games.   


Global FC also walloped their opposition in Saturday's second game:

Global reinforces hold on top spot

The Global versus Pasargad game began with the Ultras Kaya, still in the stands after watching their team beat Socceroo, booing as the Global FC starting XI was read and later on cheering for Pasargad’s starting XI.

But there was nothing anyone on or off the pitch could do to stop Global that night.

Mere seconds after the whistle, Milad Behgandom chalked one up for Global. Milad made playing football look easy, heading the ball in past the still warming up Pasargad keeper.

Eight minutes later, Daisuke Sato, with laser precision passing, found a charging Mark Hartmann who chipped the ball — from about 15 yards out — over the helpless keeper and into the goal.

At the 15th minute it was Milad again, toying with the defense, to get Global's third.

Pasargad used a very early substitution, sending in Shaheen Ahmed to replace Romnick Echin right after Milad’s goal. Pasargad head coach Ayi Aryee would perhaps question his substitution later on in the game.

Shortly after,, Milad completed his hat trick at the 20th, heading in a ball from Hartmann.

At the 31st minute, Sato found the back of the net, collecting a rebound off a Hartmann attempt. The Fil-Japanese teenager had a very different celebration, after receiving congratulations from his teammates, he did a couple of one-footed hops with one arm raised, reminiscent of Nintendo’s Super Mario.

The icing on the cake for Global in the first half was a goal by defender Charlie Pettys. Hartmann took a free kick from nearly halfway down the pitch and sent it to Curt Dizon, who in turn crossed it to Pettys. And so it was 6-0 for Global at the end of the first half.

Global coach Leigh Manson sent in Izo Elhabib and Napoleon Bustillo on for Milad and Hartmann in the second half. He also replaced goal keeper Roland Sadia with Paolo Pascual between the sticks. Pasargad also made some changes, sending in Peyman Nejad Safavi and Charles Ujam.

Izo was unlucky in the game, though, as he was replaced by Jerry Barbaso at the 60th minute. Izo, who was unable to play in the earlier part of the League looked like he had gone down injured.

Global’s luck held, however, and at the 67th minute came their magnificent seventh goal. Jeffrey Christiaens charged down the field and left foot volleyed the ball into the goal off a great diagonal feed from Pettys, who was just about at the center of the field. Christiaens celebrated by clutching his left leg and acting like it hurt before dancing at the sidelines with Sadia.

There was a delay in the game as the substitute Pasargad keeper lay on the pitch for several minutes before officials finally brought the stretcher to cart him off the pitch. He refused the stretcher, however, and proceeded to limp around for a few moments before heading to the bench. Pasargad had no substitutions left, so field player Kross Ubiam had to take over keeper duties.

Play continued after almost eight minutes, with Pasargad down to 10 men. Pasargad then resorted to some questionable tactics but oddly enough, it was Global's Pettys who was shown a yellow card in that period.

Five minutes of added time were tacked on to the end of the game but that was it for the night. Global romped away with a 7-0 win over Pasargad.

Global, with 37 points, is now four points clear of the Loyola Meralco Sparks. Pasargad continues to languish at the bottom of the standings with just four points.


Army and Pachanga take part in feisty draw:

Army draws with disappointing Pachanga

It felt like a long, arduous game on Sunday night at Emperador, as Army-GTI faced Pachanga.

Pachanga strangely had seven players listed as not playing on the squad list for their game versus Army-GTI. All the players, however, were on the bench.

In classic Army style, Ronel Gener was shown a yellow card just seven minutes into the game.

There was a pause in play as both benches complained to the officials about unmade calls. There also seemed like something was awry on the benches. Apparently, the referees themselves had complained about people on the Army bench, saying they had to wear bibs as they were wearing tops too similar to the players on the pitch. The team officials would later reappear wearing neon orange bibs.

At the 29th minute, an attempt by Pachanga’s Jinggoy Valmayor was just centimeters wide, as Pachanga seemed like they finally had something going for them.

But a minute later, a second yellow was shown to Ronel Gener, and the referee sent him off. Army-GTI's Korean coach then exploded, screaming at officials and telling his players to leave the pitch. After a few minutes of screaming, game officials asked security to escort the coach to the bleachers. The game resumed with Army down to 10 men.

But the drama wasn't over, Ronel Gener had headed to the bleachers and was changing and still interacting with the teams and officials on the pitch. His brother, Army-GTI captain Roel Gener, tried to intervene, but he was finally also escorted out by stadium security. The banished Korean coach, however, continued to sit at the bleachers.

There were five minutes of added time in the first half, but neither team could score.

Army-GTI’s keeper, Ed Sacapano had several awesome saves for Army. Tempers flared on the pitch, except for Sacapano’s. He seemed to be genuinely happy just to be playing and was even eating a chocolate bar and joking around during the halftime break.

Poor decision-making plagued Pachanga in the second half, and they could not assert themselves over the 10-man Army-GTI.

On the other side, Army coach Major Patricio Bumidang Jr. was running his mouth the whole game, even swearing at the referees loudly.

Pachanga desperately tried for a goal, with the ball spending what felt like minutes at a time near the Army-GTI area. But Army also got several decent chances in, particularly from Jeon Shin Seok, but like Pachanga, they just could not send anything that found the back of the net.

Three minutes were added to the end of the game, but it would be 0-0 when the referee whistled the end of the game.

Sacapano and Pachanga’s Reza Amirkhizan got into a spat after the game, as they had an exchange of words when Sacapano went to shake hands with the Pachanga players. Pachanga manager John Gutierrez, usually not the cooler head around, led Sacapano away while shaking his hand.

This was Ed Sacapano's game. A lesser keeper would have seen Pachanga win quite easily. The Azkal keeper clearly showed that he definitely still has “it”.

Army-GTI still has a one point lead over Pachanga. Pachanga had the chance to jump over Army and occupy the sixth spot, well away from relegation, had they won the game. - AMD, GMA News