Singaporean club sends Kaya FC-iloilo crashing

Kaya FC-Iloilo suffered its first loss after absorbing a 0-3 setback to BG Tampines Rovers of Singapore in the AFC Champions League 2 at the New Clark City Stadium in Tarlac late Wednesday.

Kaya head coach Yu Hoshide admitted that their sluggish second-half performance doomed their chances, sending them to the bottom of Group H on this prestigious continental competition.

“The first half was evenly matched. However, the team struggled particularly at the start of the second half,” Hoshide, who led Kaya FC to the Philippines Football League crown, said.

“Our opponents had a good build-up play and were really strong.”

Australian winger Trent Buhagiar terrorized Kaya, scoring a brace in the 46th and 72nd minutes while dishing a beautiful assist to Takeshi Yoshimoto in the 52nd minute for a tap-in goal that gave the Singaporean side the impressive victory.

Hoshide hopes they will be able to keep up as they try to bounce back when they face Pohang Steelers FC on 1 October at the Pohang Steel Yard stadium in South Korea.

With the group stage being a double round robin, Kaya needs to rack up wins early to finish in the top two of the group to advance to the Round of 16.

“Pohang is really strong. We have to take it game by game and hopefully we can do better,” Hoshide said.