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| Carlo Polli and William Guerridon tussle for the ball as Alen Angeles looks on (Cesar Dancel/UFL) |
MANILA-- Deja vu.
Just like last Independence Day, Stallion and JP Voltes battled it out for a goalless stalemate yet again in the UFL Saturday afternoon at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.
Another ninety minutes of football were not enough to separate both sides this season as the match once again turned into a goalkeeping battle between Nelson Gasic and Roland Sadia, with the former stood out this time as he denied Ruben Doctora thrice, the last coming in the final three minutes of the match.
Stallion dominated the full time stats but they are forced to settle for a draw for their fourth match in a row, their fifth overall this season.
Both clubs remained in their positions in the table with Voltes tying titleholders Ceres at 29 points.
Referee Clifford Daypuyat blew for 22 fouls, but none of them resulted into bookings in a fair and clean encounter.
Both managers have expressed disappointment with the outcome with neither of them have rattled the net.
"Of course, we're not satisfied but it's better than a loss. Actually it's a 50-50 game, they [Stallion] had more opportunities than us," Voltes assisstant Kyo Nagami said after the match. The Japanese have filled in for Dan Padernal who is in Indonesia for the national U19 side.
"We should've won this game too, if not for the offside call." a calmer Ernest Nierras quoted it earlier, added that the botched calls made by the officials on either side of the field could have made the difference.
The feisty manager is all praises for their opponents as well, adding that they've done enought to utilize local talent.
"Gasic is very good, hats off how the management of JPV have done a lot of good stuff to the local players. I'm very impressed in developing them," the former Malditas manager quoted after the match.
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