MANILA, Philippines—Stallion leaned on homegrown talents Fitch Arboleda and OJ Clarino to nip Loyola Meralco, 2-1, Saturday in a battle of United Football League contenders at Rizal Memorial field.
Benefiting from Stallion’s rejuvenated play, Arboleda and Clarino both struck in the second half and pushed Stallion to third spot on three wins against a lone loss.
“That’s one of the things that we focus a lot on,” said Stallion’s Ernie Nierras on giving homegrown talent a chance to shine. “They’ve (Arboleda and Clarino) been working really hard.”
But Global remained on top of the table following a 5-0 thumping of Army while Manila Jeepney claimed their first point of the season following a 1-1 draw with Green Archers.
Jeepney’s Korean midfielder Hyu Sun Park cancelled out Jimwel Ariola’s goal in the 72nd minute in a pulsating contest.
Resting majority of its starters who played in the 1-6 loss to South China in the AFC Cup, Global showed it had more than enough firepower to keep Army winless and jack up its tally to 13 points.
Mexican midfielder Renato Gonzales, Hikaru Minegishi and Satoshi Otomo all found the back of the net as Global put the outcome beyond doubt in the first half. Mark Hartmann and Rolf Schlettwein also scored in the second half in a convincing display.