Gentle Giants start Copa Paulino Alcantara quarterfinals with win vs Mendiola 1991 FC

The CFC Gentle Giants celebrate after scoring a goal against Mendiola 1991 in the PFL Copa Paulino Alcantara. | Photo from the PFL

CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Cebu Football Club (CFC) Gentle Giants started their Copa Paulino Alcantara first leg quarterfinals with a 2-0 victory against Mendiola 1991 FC on Saturday, September 30, 2023, at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.

It was a fitting victory for the Gentle Giants who are still licking their wounds from their 0-3 defeat against Phnom Penh Crown FC of Cambodia in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup last September 21, at the same venue. 

At the same time, it’s a much-needed morale booster for the Gentle Giants as they fly to New South Wales in Australia to face the home team, MacArthur FC on October 5, Thursday, at the Campbell Town Stadium for the AFC Cup.

Ryo Togashi scored CFC’s first goal at the 29th minute of the game from Kintaro Miyagi’s timely pass.

After numerous attacks, CFC failed to stretch their lead and headed into a 1-0 cushion into halftime. 

The ever-reliable Turkish forward, Arda Cinkir, broke the ice for CFC after he scored an 80th minute goal to give the FC’s a 2-0 lead.  

 Cinkir connected a long range goal that caught Mendiola off guard. CFC had 19 attempts with six of them on target.

 They also had the better ball possession than Mendiola in their convincing win. Mendiola 1991 needs to score at least three goals in their final quarterfinal leg on October 9, still at the Rizal Memorial Stadium. 

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