United City FC and 10-man One Taguig FC figured in a 2-2 draw in Saturday’s closing fixture at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.
As the two sides shared the spoils, with United City remained in fifth place while One Taguig are in sixth as neither team moved up in the standings.
Taguig took the early lead in the fourth minute when Tsukasa Shimomura headed in Stephan Schrock’s corner.
However, United City responded well in the 12th minute when Troy Limbo capitalized on a failed pass by One Taguig, curling in a beautiful shot into the far corner to equalize.
The match took a dramatic turn in the 51st minute when One Taguig skipper Kevin Ingreso received a red card for shoving the referee during an argument over a non-call.
United City almost took the lead in the 58th minute with a volley from Mark Hartmann, but One Taguig goalkeeper Quincy Kammeraad made a crucial save. However, United City did find the back of the net in the 63rd minute when Ricki Sendra scored off Hartmann’s corner.
One Taguig, despite being down to ten men, continued to push forward and were rewarded in the 76th minute. Naoto Hiraishi brilliantly dribbled past the entire UCFC defense and volleyed home to equalize at 2-2.
Both teams had chances to win the game late on. In the 87th minute, Stephan Schrock set up Patrick Grogg, who narrowly missed over the crossbar. Just a minute later, United City’s Ivan Ouano tackled the ball from Kameraad on the goal line but failed to score, ensuring the stalemate.