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MANILA, Philippines–Kaya-Iloilo and Davao Aguilas-University of Makati look to protect their aggregate leads and set up a title showdown as the semifinals of the Copa Paulino Alcantara wrap up Friday at Rizal Memorial Stadium.
Looking to reach the final for the fifth time in as many editions of the domestic cup football tournament is Kaya, which tries to finish off Stallion-Laguna at 4 p.m. after a 2-1 win in the first leg last Oct. 21.
Davao, the only team outside of the Philippines Football League to make the semis, hopes to sustain a 1-0 advantage at 7 p.m. against a Dynamic Herb Cebu side on a high after last week’s breakthrough win in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup.
Stallion and Cebu are aiming to either secure one-goal victories to force extra time or advance to the final with a margin of two goals.
Otherwise, Kaya and Davao will set up their first Copa championship match since the inaugural edition in 2018 which the former won.
Second-half goals from Arnel Amita and Justin Baas allowed Kaya to take the upper hand going into the return match, but Yuta Nomura found the back of the net which gave Stallion a slim margin to overcome.
Stallion sees action more than a week after a 2-2 draw against Terengganu in the AFC Cup, ending a string of defeats in its maiden foray in the continental tourney.
Troy Limbo’s first half goal secured Davao the first leg triumph and put Cebu on the brink of third straight Copa semis defeat.
Cebu could come into the pitch confident to make up for the disadvantage after defeating Myanmar’s Shan United in the AFC Cup.
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