Kaya Makati Aims to Snap Three-game Winless Streak Tomorrow

After back-to-back losses in the Philippines Football League to start the month, Kaya Makati looks to finally break out of its August slump when they host JPV Marikina at the University of Makati on Wednesday. Kickoff is scheduled at 4pm.

“I think tomorrow is very important for both teams. If we look at the standings, from first to fifth, the points gap is getting tighter,” said Kaya head coach Noel Marcaida. “We’ve crossed the halfway point of the league, so every point really matters.”

Tomorrow’s opponents are riding high after a big 5-2 win against Global Cebu, a victory that snapped a long skid in the PFL.

“We were in a situation where we were trying to overcome a four-five game losing streak. Now that we’ve overcome it, we don’t want to go back there. We want to win tomorrow, so we can go up the table,” said JPV head coach Dan Padernal.

“The team showed its fighting spirit in the game against Global. We scored five goals in the first half. But in the second half we conceded twice, so we still have to improve,” added Marikina captain Takashi Odawara.

Makati is coming from a painful 3-2 defeat to Ceres Negros last Saturday, only the team’s second defeat at the University of Makati. Kaya has not had a triumph in three games, and will be without the services of PFL top scorer, Jordan Mintah, and ever present captain, Masanari Omura.

“Obviously it would be better if everyone was available, but it doesn’t mean we won’t be able to perform. We’ll be able to adjust. What’s important for us is that we control the tempo and finish the chances that may come our way,” said Marcaida. “For me, the first meeting [against JPV], when we won 2-0, was one of the best games that we’ve had. We just need to continue what we did, improve where we can, and most importantly, score goals.

Padernal believes the key area of concern will be the center of the pitch.

“Mostly it’s in the midfield [where we need to improve] because, they’re so physical and aggressive in that area. We had some lapses there [last time]. We have to come out more like we did against Global,” he said.

Marvin Angeles, who started last Saturday for the first time since June, is hoping tomorrow’s game will be the start of Kaya Makati getting back to the kind of form that saw the team go unbeaten in seven matches in July.

“It felt good to be out there. I was injured for a long time and it was hard to get back.
It’s always nice to play against my old team. Although we didn’t finish and we were a little disappointed with the result, we showed it’s still really hard to play in UMak against us,” he said. “It’s nice to get some minutes and I hope to get some more against other teams, especially tomorrow. But that’s up to the coaches.”

“We’re disappointed with the results, a draw and two losses [In the last three games]. We’ve been unlucky as well. We’ve played good but we just couldn’t finish. Tomorrow will be a good a game. We want to show that we’re strong at home. We want to win our remaining games and it starts with JPV,” he added.