Singapore Cup: Phil YH strikes twice as Loyola drubs Harimau Muda B
SINGAPORE – In Football, as in life, experience matters.
The Loyola Meralco Sparks used a solid defense and a bit of Younghusband magic to repulse a promising but somewhat naïve Harimau Muda side 3-0 on Sunday.
The victory propels the Filipino squad to a two-legged quarterfinals showdown sometime in July against an as-yet-to-be determined opponent in the RHB Singapore Cup.
Jang Jo Woong also got on the scoresheet for Loyola in front of about 200 or so Filipino fans at the Jalan Besar stadium.
The victory was impressive considering the Sparks were missing key players like defender Park Min Ho (quadricep) Jang Jo Won (suspended due to accumulated yellow cards from last year's competition), and striker Freddy Gonzalez, who after injuring his posterior cruciate ligament earlier in the UFL season has been relegated to team photographer duties.
Loyola controlled most of the possession but mixed it up with several piercing long balls to create problems for the Malaysians, while their well-organized defense limited HM-B's chances.
For Harimau Muda, it's a quick exit from the Singapore Cup. The team, which is the Malaysian U20 squad, plays in the Singaporean league where it is currently mid-table.
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Seventeen minutes into the match the game turned on one fateful play.
Phil Younghusband found himself on the receiving end of a lovely through ball and was racing towards goal when he was viciously fouled on the thigh by HM-B defender Ashmawi Yakin.
Referee Abdul Malik Bashir unhesitatingly pointed to the spot then moments later presented Yakin with a red card.
In Football, any foul by the defense in the box is a penalty, and any foul by the last defender that denies a clear goal scoring opportunity usually merits an expulsion.
Yakin's foul betrayed his team's lack of experience in big-game situations, as Younghusband was not even sure to score and there was another defending helping out on the play as well.
Younghusband got HMB goalie Ilham Amirullah to dive to his left, while Phil powered the shot cleanly to his right for 1-0.
Nine minutes later Mark Hartmann nearly doubled the lead, but his shot off a 1-2 with Jang went straight to the keeper.
Two minutes later Phil almost got a second goal hen he gathered a superb long pass from Simon Greatwich and fired wide right.
The shell-shocked and shorthanded Malaysians played a 4-4-1 formation on defense while reverting to a 4-2-3 on offense, with little success.
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In the 37th the Malaysians nearly broke through when left back Sarkunan Vikneswaran produced a dazzling forty-yard run through the Sparks defense before he fired wide from outside the box. The tall defender was easily the most impressive Malaysian on the park.
Six minutes before the half Phil turned provider when he supplied a neat diagonal pass to Jang in the box. The Korean youngster, the younger brother of the suspended Jang Jo Won, beat Amirullah with a fine finish into the lower left corner to give Loyola a 2-0 lead.
Five minutes into the half Matt Hartmann nearly made it 3-0 when he controlled a looping pass from Jang and volleyed agonizingly off the far post.
As the pace of the game slowed Meralco continued to press the ten-man Malaysian outfit, with Jang hoofing over the bar at the hour mark while Jeong Byeong-yeol firing wide from distance four inutes later.
Sparks coach Vince Santos brought in Angelo Marasigan for Matt Hartmann and replaced Jang with Alexandro Elnar before the seventieth minute. Soon after Jake Morallo was also inserted into the match for a cramp-stricken Jeong.
Harimau Muda showed some character with some attempts but shots by Akhir Bahari, Hanif Dzahir, and Maxsius Musa all missed the goal frame.
Nine minutes from time Loyola sealed the match. Morallo burst through on a breakaway near the box and attracted some defenders. His attempt to center to Phil was initially blocked, but he picked up the loose ball and on the second try succeeded in finding Younghusband, who was past the onrushing keeper.
The all-time leading scorer for the Azkals calmly drilled the ball into the empty net for 3-0.
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“It was a good win coming back from a stretch of poor results” said Santos afterwards. “We're turning a corner, so spirits are up and hopefully it will help us for the remainder of the league.”
Meralco created problems for the Malaysians down the center of the defense and Santos revealed that this was all part of the game plan. “We wanted to open up wide and have runs down the middle.”
Santos praised several players, including Phil and his two holding mids in the 4-2-3-1 formation, Greatwich and Mark Hartmann. He also lauded Jeong's play at center back, not his usual position.
Yahoo! Sports has learned that there could be a redraw for the next round, the quarterfinals. But if there is no redraw the the Sparks play the winner of the first round match between Albirex Niigata-Singapore and Home United.
Another Filipino team, UFL league champs Global, is also in the Singapore Cup and faces Warriors FC on June 1.
Follow Bob on Twitter @bhobg333.
