Cebu FC falls to Manila Digger anew in incident-marred match

CEBU, Philippines — Cebu FC saw its two-game win streak at home come to an end after the Manila Digger FC once again tamed the Gentle Giants, 2-1, in the Philippines Football League (PFL) Season 2024-2025 season on Saturday night, February 22, at the Dynamic Herb-Borromeo Sports Complex in South Road Properties (SRP).

With the stands packed and the Manila Digger having its own considerable number of followers, the grudge match was marked by tension that eventually led to punches getting thrown.

In all, four yellow cards were slapped against the Digger and three on the Gentle Giants. That resulted to the ejection of Manila Digger defender Pa Ousman Gai and Cebu’s strength and conditioning coach Paolo Isidoro.

With the Manila Digger on top, 2-0, the commotion broke out at the 71st minute when Rintaro Hama and Jordan Jarvis fell down after going shoulder to shoulder for ball possession.

Play was stopped and Hama was trying to pick up the ball when Gai attempted to kick it earning him a second yellow card, then a red.

The shoving started with Gai retaliating, hitting Kamil Jaser Amirul on the right side of his face. Isidoro joined the fray and confronted Gai, resulting to his ejection.

Cooler heads eventually prevailed and the game match went on.

The Manila Digger scored their two goals in the first half courtesy of Saikouba Ceesay at the 25th and Modou Manneh at the 42nd minute.

Guytho Marcus Mijland prevented the Gentle Giants from getting blanked after finding the back of the net three minutes into the stoppage time.

With the victory, the second-ranked Manila Digger widened their gap from Cebu FC with 27 points from their 9-2-0 win-loss-draw record.

The Gentle Giants stay at the third place with 20 points on their 6-3-2 slate. — EBV (FREEMAN)