MANILA Jeepney dealt Global’s title bid a massive blow by holding the reigning champions to a 2-2 draw Saturday night in the United Football League at Rizal Memorial Stadium.
Izzo El Habbib opened the scoring in the first 10 minutes for Global but Arthur Kouassi and Eric Giganto struck to give Jeepney a 2-1 lead at the half.
But just when it looked like Jeepney was about to post the upset of the season, Daisuke Sato saved Global with a long-range strike in the 82nd minute.
The result could mean the end of Global’s title challenge as the reigning champions remained six points behind Ceres-La Salle with only two matches remaining in its schedule.
Later, Green Archers rallied from three goals down to force a 3-3 stalemate against Stallion and stay on track for a Top 3 finish.
Refusing to quit after going three goals down early, Archers staged a dramatic fightback to salvage a point.
Milan Arends, Jordan Mintah and Fitch Arboleda scored for Stallion within the first 34 minutes, but a penalty from Robert Lopez Mendy in first-half stoppage time gave the Archers a glimmer of hope.
Jhan Jhan Melliza struck with a one-touch finish off a Mendy layoff in the 54th minute and Mendy completed the comeback five minutes later with a close-range strike after Melliza’s hopeful lob rattled the post.