Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Singapore: Philippine club Kaya FC remain on top of Group F after a dominant 3-0 victory away to Singapore’s Balestier Khalsa in their AFC Cup clash on Tuesday at Jalan Besar Stadium. VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS
Alfred Osei opened the scoring for the visitors on the quarter-hour mark before Kenshiro Daniels doubled the advantage 10 minutes later.
Louis Clark then made sure of the result with 17 minutes remaining as the Filipino side retained first place in the standings, two points ahead of Hong Kong’s Kitchee who defeated Maldivian club New Radiant 2-0 in Group F’s earlier tie.
**“We used our speed and stamina to outlast Balestier and utilised our numbers going forward in attack to overwhelm them,” said Kaya coach Joel Villarino.
“We expected our opponents to play high balls but our defenders managed to out-jump their attacking players and keep them quiet.”**
It was, however, the hosts who had the first chance of note inside the opening 10 minutes as Syafiq Zainal set Miroslav Kristic through on goal but his low effort was denied by the legs of Kaya goalkeeper Matthew Acton.
And just five minutes later Kristic’s profligacy was punished as Ghanaian defender Osei rose highest to meet Daniels’ corner from the left with a thumping header to put the visitors ahead.
The provider then became scorer on 25 minutes as Jovin Bedic’s clever chipped pass found Daniels inside the penalty area and the Philippines international slotted home past Zaiful Nizam in the Balestier goal to make the score 2-0 at the interval.
Balestier did have a golden chance to reduce the deficit just after the hour mark, though, as Kristic was tripped inside the box by Masanari Omura but the Serbian’s torrid night continued as he saw his tame spot-kick well saved by Australian stopper Acton.
And then second half substitute Clark, who had already been denied a goal by a sprawling save from Zaiful, put the game beyond the Singaporeans on 73 minutes as he cushioned down a long ball over the top and coolly steered his shot across the Balestier custodian and into the opposite corner of the net.
“Kaya were a better side than us. They were more aggressive than us. They moved faster and were stronger in 50-50 challenges for the ball,” said Balestier coach Marko Kraljevic.
“Had we scored the penalty, we might have had a chance of making a result. Our players’ heads went down after Kristic’s penalty was saved.”
Photo: Lagardère Sports