MANILA, Philippines – Kaya stepped up big time down the stretch to force a 1-1 draw against arch-rival Loyola Meralco Sparks on Tuesday night in the United Football League.
Before a big crowd at the Emperador Stadium in McKinley Hill, the two bitter rivals did not disappoint as they gave the fans wire-to-wire action.
Meralco’s star striker Phil Younghusband gave the Sparks one-goal lead early in the second half before newcomer Sean Iliff scored the equalizer for Kaya late in the match to earn the split.
“It’s disappointing. Being one-zero up, if we want to win the league, we should have not been conceding late goals like that,†a disappointed Phil Younghusband told the media after the match. “But scoring a point against one of the top sides is not a bad result.â€
Younghusband converted a rocket in the 62nd minute after outmuscling his defender Junior Munoz on the left flank. But that goal fired up Kaya as the Sparks’ bitter rivals came back charging and relentlessly attacked Loyola’s defense gifting themselves several scoring chances.
Iliff, who came in early in the second half to replace Anton del Rosario, scored on a beautiful header off an Antonio Ugarte free kick near the full time.
The Vietnamese-American’s first goal in the tournament caught the Sparks’ defense napping and dearly paid for it. The draw kept the Sparks in solo second behind Global, who remained unbeaten after a 4-0 rout of the Pachanga-Diliman earlier.
“A draw was a fair result. We would’ve liked the win, obviously, but both teams fought hard. After the [Younghusband] goal, it seemed like we stepped up our game so we were able to get that goal,†Said Iliff, who tried out for a spot in the team upon the invitation of his college teammate Eddie Mallari.
Kaya, who has yet to find a head coach after Maor Rozen resigned three matches into the season, remained at sixth spot with a 1-2-2 win-draw-loss card.