By ADRIAN STEWART CO

Kaya Futbol Club-Iloilo continued their strong start in the 2024 Philippines Football League (PFL) after a 3-1 victory over the Manila Diggers Football Club at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.

Jarvey Gayoso, Robert Lopez-Mendy and Shuto Komaki converted a goal each as the Iloilo City-based booters remained on top of the standings with 22 points, on seven wins and a draw.

Gayoso, the current top goalscorer in the league, kicked off the scoring for Kaya-Iloilo as he connected from the bottom right corner with a perfectly placed through ball by a teammate in the 18th minute.

However, the Manila Diggers responded with a header from Salifu Jaffa in the 26th minute from a corner kick by a teammate to force a 1-1 deadlock heading into the halftime break.

The defending league champion Kaya-Iloilo reclaimed the lead in the second half following a series of attacks, which led to a conversion from Lopez-Mendy in the 67th minute.

Kaya-lloilo then sealed the victory in the 79th minute as Komaki’s strike from the edge of the box sneaked into the bottom corner to establish a 3-1 advantage and never looked back.

Kaya-Iloilo will look to continue their winning run as they face the Mendiola Football Club 1991 at the same venue on Sunday, June 9 at 8:30 p.m.

On the other hand, the Davao Aguilas-University of Makati Football Club moved to a tie with Kaya-Iloilo with 22 points following a 3-0 domination over the Loyola Meralco Sparks Football Club.

The Stallion-Laguna Football Club dropped to fourth place with 20 points after being forced to a 1-1 deadlock by United City Football Club, which improved to 16 points.

In other results, the One Taguig Football Club jumped to fifth spot with 18 points following a 9-1 rout over Mendiola 1991 FC, while the Maharlika Taguig Football Club blanked the Manila Montet FC, 5-0./ASC, WDJ