Cebu salvages draw; Kaya fades late

Dynamic Herb Cebu secured the first point by any Philippine club with an away draw, while Kaya-Iloilo failed to follow suit in its home match that was rescheduled due to the poor weather caused by Several Tropical Storm “Kristine” in the AFC Champions League Two.

A stoppage-time equalizer by Japanese striker Rintaro Hama allowed 10-man Cebu to salvage a 2-2 tie with Thai club Muangthong United at Rajamangala Stadium in Bangkok on Wednesday, in a result that came after starting the continental campaign with two straight defeats.

Kaya conceded a second-half goal and fell, 2-1, to Hong Kong’s Eastern Sports Club in a rare Friday noon affair at Rizal Memorial Stadium, after strong winds and heavy downpour left match officials with no choice but to postpone the original Thursday night kickoff.

Still trailing

The contrasting results, however, still kept the two Philippines Football League sides at the bottom of their respective groups halfway into the campaign.

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Cebu has one point after three matches, trailing Group H leader Selangor of Malaysia, which has seven points, South Korea’s Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors with six points and Muangthong with two points.

Kaya dropped its third consecutive game to remain without a point in Group E, which has Japan’s Sanfrecce Hiroshima holding top spot with nine points followed by Australia’s Sydney FC with six points and Eastern with three points.