MANILA – United City and Kaya Iloilo hacked out contrasting wins on Saturday night at the PFF National Training Centre in Carmona to retain the top two spots in the Philippines Football League season.
United City romped Mendiola, 6-0, while Kaya Iloilo had to brave a gallant fight from the Azkals Development Team (ADT) to take a 1-0 win.
A quick hat trick from Bienvenido Maranon set the pace for United City as the club eventually moved up to first place in the standings on goal difference (GD).
Maranon struck first for United City in the 12th minute after converting a free kick from Stephan Schrock.
He then scored his second goal in the 25th minute by firing a rocket that Dini Ouattara could not completely save.
Maranon took a back seat in scoring and watched Robert Mendy converted on a cross in the 38th minute to make it 3-0. He then completed his hat trick in the 44th minute as he drilled in a penalty off a yellow card by Ouattara on Mendy inside the box.
Mike Ott joined the scoring barrage for United City after making his own penalty shot in the 52nd minute.
Mendy finished the job for United City with his own brace, following up on a Maranon attempt that hit the crossbar and heading the ball in at the 59th minute.
Meanwhile, Kenshiro Daniels pounced on a crucial defending error from Mar Diano to go all the way for the 15th minute goal that eventually won it for Kaya Iloilo.
However, Kaya Iloilo could have pulled away earlier if not for two bad one-on-one misses in the second half that somehow kept the ADT in the match.
Despite a more active performance that saw the club getting five shots on target, the ADT could not breach past Kaya Iloilo’s defense as Mike Casas kept a blank sheet for the second straight match.
Both United City and Kaya Iloilo are on six points, but the former currently holds the tiebreaker with a plus-7 GD against the latter’s plus-2.