Despite missing many Azkals, Global edges Loyola to book first UFL Cup seat

Karl Decena, InterAKTV

 League champion Global reached the United Football Cup finals after edging the Loyola Meralco Sparks, 2-1, Tuesday night at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium.
Missing nine of its key players who are in Cebu to train with the national team didn’t hurt Global, with its reserves stepping up early in the match. Cameroonian import Alex Obiang hit the net at the seventh minute to give his team an early 1-nil lead.
Global had a chance to double its lead right after the break, but Sudanese striker Izzo Elhabib missed his shot at goal.
The Sparks had plenty of chances to score the equalizer, but shots by Mark Hartmann and Phil and James Younghusband were off the mark.
Elhabib then freed himself from defenders and scored a goal at the 83rd minute to give Global a 2-nil edge.
James Younghusband quickly countered with a goal at the 86th minute.
After that, things got contentious as referees slapped yellow cards on Roland Sadia and Matthew Uy of Global for wasting time. Delon Yao was also sent off after getting his second yellow card in the final seconds of the match.
Despite its chances, Loyola still failed to score again which could have forced the match to extra time.
The UFL Cup final is slated on Monday and will be shown live on AKTV.

Interaksyon