Borromeo, the captain of the national team, rose the highest to head past Air Force keeper Edmundo Mercado in the first minute of second half injury time as Kaya foiled Air Force, which was looking to move within a victory of clinching the title of the league backed by LBC Hari ng Padala.
The Air Force loss threw the title race back into the melting pot, but second-running Global Smartmatic was unable to fully capitalize on the defending champions’ slip after it was held to a 1-1 draw by Army Fritz and Macziol.
Global needed an 88th minute strike from Izo El-Habbib to avoid defeat, after national player Roel Gener had given Army a stunning 1-nil lead eight minutes earlier.
In the night match, Green Archers Orient Freight leaned on the brilliance of Floriano Pasilan, who scored both goals in the 2-nil win over Navy FC.
Inarguably one of the finest talents in the league, Pasilan, a fleet-footed striker, took his tally to five goals for the season with goals in the 40th and 45th minutes to power Green Archers to only their second win of the season.
As it stands, Air Force remains on top with 23 points with two tough games against Army (May 22) and Global (May 29) remaining in its schedule.
Global is in second with 17 and they must win their remaining three games to still have a chance of unseating Air Force, while Army has 16 also with three matches left.
Kaya is already out of the running with 13 points, but its game against Global this weekend could also potentially decide the title race. Air Force will be facing Army also on Sunday in another crucial match.
Both Kaya and Air Force came into the game missing key players with Air Force striker Ian Araneta sidelined by a groin injury and Kaya winger Yannick Tuason absent because of his commitment with the NCR team in the Under-23 national championship.
Air Force’s attack was severely blunted without Araneta, one of the league’s leading scorers with seven goals.
As another disappointing draw loomed for Kaya, the talisman Borromeo again delivered to score his fourth goal of the season.
Borromeo also headed the winning goal against Navy two weeks ago upon his return from a four-game absence.
After a dull opening half, Global and Army came to life in the second with Misagh Bahadoran and El-Habbib getting their chances for Global.
But it was Army which took the upper hand, thanks to Gener, who has played almost every position on the pitch for his team this season except goalkeeper.
Gener got on the end of a pass from Philip Caballero and expertly finished past Global keeper Kenneth Dolloso.
But Global refused to give up. With its title hopes hanging in the balance, Global pressed on and were rewarded with one of the goals of the season – a thunderous volley from just outside the box from El-Habbib two minutes from time.
The move began from a cross from the left and Army only managed to clear the ball up to 20 yards from goal, allowing El-Habbib who dropped back as an attacking midfielder from striker to produce the goal that kept Global’s title hopes afloat.
No comments:
Post a Comment