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| One Taguig is slowly building enough cushion to clinch the PFL title. Luis Fabregar |
MANILA—One Taguig continued to gradually assert control of the PFL title race after taking down Stallion Laguna, 2-1, on Wednesday night at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.
Patrick Reichelt put One Taguig up front in the 26th minute after slotting in a penalty after he was tripped by Yousuf Butt while trying to save the ball inside the restricted area.
Adding to Stallion Laguna's mid-first-half woes, head coach Ernie Nierras was sent off for continuous complaining right after the spot kick.
However, the red card may have fueled the Biñan-based club more, as Jose Dourado struck a point-blank goal in the 32nd minute to tie things up, only the third time One Taguig keeper Milos Cupic let someone score against him this season.
Just before halftime, though, Andres Aldeguer converted a back pass from Stephan Schrock and slotted another goal to put One Taguig up for good.
"Noong first half, sinunod ng team yung game plan, 'coz we found out yung weakness noong Stallion. We were more likely on the counterattack, and both our goals, doon nangyari," head coach Arvin Soliman told Dugout Philippines after the match.
Stallion Laguna somehow held its ground defensively in the second half to prevent One Taguig from scoring further.
However, the absence of Finn McDaniel, who was suspended for incurring a direct red card in its 1-1 Saturday night draw against Kaya Iloilo, was dearly felt as the club could not find the equalizer on the other end.
"Finn is their high scorer, even in the league, so I think it's a big help na wala si Finn doon," Soliman continued.
One Taguig is now on 39 points after 14 matches on 13 wins and one loss, five points ahead of Cebu and Kaya Iloilo at the top of the PFL table.
Favoring One Taguig more is that it has two matches at hand, which means it has a chance to further blow the title race wide open ahead of the "championship round", a third round of the season only for the top six clubs after the double-round-robin regular season.
"Even though the scoreline is very tight, the most important thing is that we get the three points," Soliman further said.
Stallion Laguna, on the other hand, remained in sixth place with 25 points, but the loss should sound good news for Maharlika Taguig, which still has a chance to steal the last spot in the Top 6 round, although Stallion Laguna has a match at hand.
In the curtain raiser, Garelli ripped Army, 7-1, in a battle of clubs already out of championship contention, and will go through a "classification round" after the double-round-robin phase to determine which will finish from seventh to 11th in the season.
Garelli scored its third win against 12 losses to move up to nine points, one point behind fellow Don Bosco-backed club Tuloy for eighth place.
Army, on the other hand, was sent crashing back to earth after shocking Maharlika Taguig with a 1-1 draw that put a dent in the latter's Top 6 hopes.
