GLOBAL CEBU FC SURVIVES ILOCOS
Global Cebu fights back to beat Ilocos United and keeps an unbeaten record at home in Philippines Football League Global Cebu stays in fourth place behind Ceres Negros, Kaya Makati, and FC Meralco Manila
Global Cebu FC came back from an early goal deficit to take a much-needed 3-2 victory at home against a pesky Ilocos United FC in an exciting Philippines Football League match in the Cebu City Sports Center last Saturday night.
It was a match that everybody expected Global to breeze through, but the bottom-ranked Ilocos side put up a good fight.
“To come back like that , you’ve got to give credit to the players, they played really well,” said Global Cebu FC head coach Akbar Nawas. “I’m pleased with their performance and the way they played, the way the individuals knew their roles.”
Ilocos striker Arthur Kouassi made a good impression against his former team, scoring an impressive goal from a difficult angle coming from the right flank to give his side a 1-0 advantage in the 19th minute. But the lead was short-lived as Darryl Roberts scored the equalizer, a strike just outside the box, just two minutes later.
Roberts scored a brace to give Global a 2-1 lead in the 43rd minute. But Kouassi answered with a brace of his own two minutes after to tie the match at 2-2 at halftime.
Center back Wesley Dos Santos was all over the pitch all night long, and moved up to the offense at just the right moment, scoring the match-clinching goal in the 78th minute,
“All the players surprised me, because all of them stepped up,” said Akbar Nawas.
Global got a much needed three points up on the board to solidify its place in the top four of the league. Global is still ranked fourth with 40 points and just five points behind third-ranked Ceres Negros FC. FC Meralco Manila is still at the top of the league with 51 points, followed by Kaya FC-Makati with 47 points.
“The field was difficult to play on but we have to play, both teams played in the field. Going forward , I think we had a lot of good plays and just a few mistakes at the back that we had them free. But over all, I’m pleased with the team’s performance, these three points were important for us. Hopefully we can take this win and go on a roll from here going into the Singapore Cup,” said Roberts, who was named “Man of the Match”.
Global will have a very tight schedule this week with a match against fifth ranked Stallion FC Laguna on Thursday and against Ilocos on Sunday.
“I’ll think of the Singapore Cup if we’re assured of the top four and mathematically no other teams will catch up with us,” said Nawas.
Global is in the finals of the RHB Singapore Cup against Albirex Niigata (S) in a two-legged championship./
I’m still shaking. I was up 5-0 and then Venus started upping her game. She went for her shots, started serving into my body. I’m just so happy I managed to win in the end. CAROLINE WOZNIACKI