Meralco stuns Kanbawza in Singapore Cup

Loyola Meralco's triple threat delivered for the Sparks as the Filipino club fashioned a 3-1 victory over Myanmar club Kanbawza in the RHB Singapore Cup in Singapore's Jalan Besar Stadium last Thursday.

The result gives the Sparks a handy cushion going into Sunday's second leg, also at the same venue. The quarterfinal stage in this competition is a two-legged aggregate-goals series.

The Younghusbands both got on the scoresheet as did Mark Hartman, who replicated his feat from the first-round victory over Geylang United by scoring again.

It was an ill-tempered match with Kanbawza finishing with nine men.

Loyola started the match nervously, with a few dodgy moments on defense. But against the run of play, Phil Younghusband rammed the ball home off a Jeong Byeong Yeol pass in the fifteenth minute for the opener.

Minutes later things got worse for Kanbawza as Hia Htwe was shown a straight red for headbutting James Younghusband. The call incensed the large contingent of Kanbawza fans.

The score remained 1-0 until the halftime whistle. Soon after the restart Kanbawza almost leveled but Sparks goalkeeper Ref Cuaresma and midfielder Anto Gonzales conspired to keep the ball out off Kyaw Zayar Win's shots.

The Myanmar crowd continued its rowdy behavior, pelting debris on to the field. The match was suspended for a few minutes while the public address announcer warned the Burmese that if anything else was hurled onto the pitch, the match would be suspended.

The Filipinos made it 2-0 in the 60th minute as Mark Hartmann collected a pass from Phil and poked it home past the Kanbawza reserve keeper Zin Myo Ang.  First-choice custodian Htet was subbed off injured early in the match.

Two minutes later Kanbawza were down to nine men as Kyaw, earlier cautioned for a dive in the second half, was shown a second yellow for a clumsy challenge. The gifted attacker will miss Sunday's match.

Meralco surged forward, seeming intent to go for the jugular. But the move backfired as Myanmar pulled one back in the 75th. Forward Soe Min Oo nodded the ball home to give Kanbawza hope.

But deep into stoppage time the Pinoys made their two-man advantage pay with a crucial third goal by James Younghusband off a neat interplay between him and his brother.

Loyola only need to lose by one goal or better on Sunday to progress to the semifinals.  In the final four stage, also a two-legged series,  they meet either Albirex Niigata Singapore or Singapore outfit Tampines Rovers.  Tampines won the first leg of their quarterfinal clash 2-1 last Monday. Albirex Niigata Singapore is a satellite club of Albirex Niigata, which plays in the Japanese top tier.  All of the players of the Singapore team are Japanese nationals.

There is no away-goals rule in the Singapore Cup, so if the scores are tied after 90 minutes on Sunday, there will be two fifteen-minute periods of extra time and if needed, a penalty shootout.

The match kicks off at 7:45 p.m. on Sunday, also on Jalan Besar's artificial turf. It is not known if there will be any TV coverage or live streaming. The game was not televised even for the Singapore market, and Filipino fans had to make do with tweetcasts from those who traveled to Singapore.

Many foreign clubs from the region have been invited to play in Singapore's top Cup in recent years. In fact two years ago, Bangkok Glass FC lifted the trophy after defeating Tampines in the final. This year six foreign clubs joined the competition.

Yahoo! Sports Philippines thanks Rick Olivares and Cedelf Tupas for their invaluable help in this article.

Follow Bob Guerrero on Twitter @bhobg333.