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| KC Cruz/UFL |
By Kevin Estrada
MANILA--Stallion
found their groove late to put Agila away, 4-0, as the UFL Cup kicked off its fourth day at the Rizal Memorial Stadium on Sunday.
Park Bo-Bae, Jay Soberano, and Jordan Mintah all found the net in the last seven
minutes of the match to pull away from a tight contest in which they only found the net once in the first 45 minutes through Christian Nana to remain unbeaten in Group A after two matches.
Ref Cuaresma hardly saw any intense action as he picked his second consecutive clean sheet in as many starts.
The former cup holder in 2012 was clearly the more aggressive side, having almost 70% of the possession and outshot its victim 31-2, yet Ernest Nierras must be frustrated that the club should score more than the result said.
"We're just a bit unlucky", quipped the Malditas manager, in which he wished that they should won the match by seven or eight goals.
Both teams were playing their contrasting styles at the start on the match with Agila holding its own with its back five, frustrating Stallion, which had more than six shots already after the half-hour mark but just would not convert.
That changed two minutes later as the Cameroonian danced through the Agila defense and scored from close range past Benito Rosalia.
Stallion shifted into higher gear at the restart, but its finishing was left to be wanted as Agila's defense held firm to frustrate the club.
Rosalia became a zero to hero in the 54th minute for Agila after conceding a penalty and being booked in the process.
He denied Balut Doctora twice, from the spot and the succeeding rebound before being substituted for Rolando Cabaniero due to cramps.
However, Stallion finally broke their long drought with five minutes left in regulation as Park slotted home the rebound after his initial shot has been blocked by Cabaniero to double the advantage and put the match beyond any doubt.
Not to be outdone, Soberano came off the bench to blast the ball from 20 yards and into the bottom corner to make it 3-0 with a minute left to play.
Mintah put the finishing touches on the match with a perfectly placed glancing header in the second minute of stoppage time.
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