GREEN ARCHERS United FC barged into the win column of the ongoing season of the Philippines Football League (PFL) after hacking out a hard-earned 1-0 victory over Global Cebu FC on Wednesday at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium.
Off a 0-4 loss to Kaya FC-Iloilo in the tournament opener, GAU came out on firmer footing against Global en route to booking its first win.
Substitute Christian Zubiri was the game hero for the Archers after scoring what turned out to be the winning goal in the 72nd minute.
It was a tightly fought match between GAU and Global until Mr. Zubiri broke through for his team.
The two teams continued to slug it out the rest of the way but in the end there was no stopping the Archers (1-0-1) from making their way to the groundbreaking victory. Also victorious on Wednesday were Kaya and defending champion Ceres-Negros FC.
Kaya defeated Stallion Laguna FC, 2-0, at the Biñan Football Stadium while Ceres was a big 5-0 victor over Philippine Air Force FC at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium.
Iloilo-based Kaya was once again on top of its game as it blanked Stallion in its home turf.
Jovin Bedic and Jordan Mintah provided the goals for Kaya in the win with the former delivering his in the 25th minute and the latter in the 87th minute.
The win kept the clean slate of Kaya after two games and pushed it to the top of the standings with six points.
Despite two victories in as many games to date, Kaya is not getting ahead of itself, recognizing it is still a long season.
“It’s a long season and I hope we keep this winning streak going. We’ll be looking for another clean sheet in the next match, that’s very important for us,” said Kaya goalkeeper Mike Casas in postmatch.
Ceres (1-1-0), for its part, was solid in its win over Air Force with Bienvenido Maranon scoring a hat trick (15’, 76’ and 82’) and Curt Dizon a brace (52’ and 78’).
The win was a bounce back from its first game where it was held to a 2-2 draw by Stallion.
PFL games on Saturday are Air Force versus Stallion and Ceres against Global. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo
