LADY luck finally smiled on Pachanga-PLDT Home Fibr as it hacked out a 1-0 victory over offensively-wanting Green Archers United on Tuesday night in the United Football League at the Emperador Stadium in Mckinley Hill.
Azkals training team call-up Nate Burkey fired the lone goal that mattered for the former Division 2 champions, who snapped a four-game skid by surviving a brave stand from an Archers team left without skipper Chieffy Caligdong.
Pachanga thus ended its first-round campaign on a positive note, moving two places up to fifth spot with nine points, while supplanting the sixth-running Archers, who remained with seven points.
“It was tough,” Pachanga coach Noel Marcaida said. “We improved our consistency on attack and we simplified our attack. And we tightened our defense.”
While the Archers were without Caligdong, who is out with a fractured foot that will cause him to miss not just the Archers’ matches in the next month, but also the Azkals’ friendlies in March, Pachanga welcomed back veteran striker Ariel Zerrudo.
Returning from injury, Zerrudo came off the bench in the 65th minute for Jay Eseubio, before assisting on Burkey’s winner just nine minutes later.
Pachanga, which had five players nursing injuries, though, had to endure anxious moments within the last 10 seconds of the match where the UFL Cup runner-up almost conceded a goal.
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