 |
| Serge Kaole and Hikaru Minegishi celebrates Global's second (Cesar Dancel/UFL) |
MANILA-- Global have to survive a late Kaya onslaught to complete a season sweep and remain undefeated in the UFL late Saturday afternoon at the Rizal Memorial Stadium
Hikaru Minegishi scored in each half for a brace to put Global seven points clear of Loyola in the table wit a 3-2 win as they inch closer to a trophy double that was once denied to them by Philippine Air Force five years ago.
Chris Greatwich's Kaya fell behind early behind a shaky Audie Menzi who let in an own goal early on, but almost came back thru Junior Muñoz and Robert-Lopez Mendy later on, but could not get another one to force a stalemate.
The FEU Tamaraw had an inauspicious of starts early in the game, as Chris Greatwich gambled by pairing him with veteran Masa Omura in the center of defence.
It took only eleven minutes for Global to make them pay after getting through their nerves on their pressing game, as Misagh Bahadoran's missed hit was poked in by Menzi in their own net to draw first blood.
Seven minutes later, the Japanese dynamo doubled their advantage as he pounced Serge Kaole cross to thump the ball home from close range
However, Kaya responded and scored on a counter, as Louis Clark beats Milan Nikolic after a long ball and duly crossed the ball in which the midfielder calmly struck from inside the six yard box.
Tempers flared up right before halftime, as a foul by Lopez-Mendy on Bahadoran turned into a commotion of sorts, as both teams engaged in a shouting match in which both captains were booked for their involvement.
But in the second half, Minegishi stole the spotlight again to restore Global's two-goal edge just five minutes in with a 25-yard scorcher that curled past Matt Acton. They had two chances to make it 4-1 but Jerry Barbaso had his attempt go over and OJ Clariño was caught offside.
Kaya pulled one back with ten minutes to go, as the Senegalese striker pulled one back on a rebound of Clark's attempt to set up an intense finish.
However, Kaya were left to rue their missed chances in the final minutes, as Clark missed an open header and substitute Julian Matthews had his attempt grazed the goalmouth, as Global kept their nerve to grab all three points.
Leigh Manson was relieved with the result, knowing that they have widened the gap between then and the chasing pack.
"Kaya gave us a little bit of scared, we're a bit mismatched in the midfield. OJ [Clariño] only trained once due to cold. The important thing here is we created a gap between other teams and we do the double over Kaya," the Scot quoted after the match.
Follow the writer on Twitter: @KevinLEstrada
.jpg)
