SPANISH striker Adrian Gallardo fired a hat-trick as Ceres-La Salle hacked out a 5-2 triumph over Loyola Meralco Sparks Saturday night and seized top spot in the United Football League at Rizal Memorial Stadium.
Gallardo opened the scoring in the 19th minute, before helping seal the win with a couple of late strikes for Ceres which took its tally to 21 points, three ahead of both Kaya and Loyola.
Patrick Reichelt and Martin Steuble also found the back of the net for the Bacolod-based side, which extended its unbeaten start to seven matches.
“We worked hard and treated the game as if it was a championship match,” said Ceres coach Ali Go.
Global snapped a two-game slide with a 10-1 victory over a listless Manila Jeepney side, while Team Socceroo nailed its first win of the season at the expense of Army, 4-0.
Mark Hartmann also drilled home a hat-trick and jacked up his total to eight goals this season, while Hikaru Minegishi and returning skipper Misagh Bahadoran also struck twice for Global which climbed to fourth spot with 16 points.
The Ceres-Loyola clash turned out to be an ill-tempered affair with Loyola coach Simon McMenemy dismissed along with assistant Gil Talaviera for continuous complaining.
There was little doubt of Ceres’ dominance though with Gallardo firing home from close range off a Manny Ott cross in the 19th minute. Reichelt made it 2-0 just before halftime.
Ceres seemed in cruise control when Steuble’s long-range rocket found the back of the net in the 67th minute, but goals from Phil Younghusband and Adam Mitter within eight minutes set the stage for a thrilling final 20 minutes.