Meralco Manila Hands Kaya FC–Makati First Home Loss

Meralco Manila scored on either side of the break to keep their 100% record intact in the Philippines Football League. Goals from Joaquin Cañas and Phil Younghusband handed Kaya FC–Makati their first loss at the University of Makati Stadium.

Very little separated the two sides for most of the opening period, with neither team really able to carve out any clean chances. As expected, the match was a physical affair, and halfway through the period, Phil Younghusband took exception to a meaty challenge from Alfred Osei. Despite a clash of heads from the resulting reaction, both players walked away unpunished.

The deadlock was broken right before half time, with Cañas glancing in a well-delivered long throw. Kaya looked to respond immediately. Driving through the left flank, they were able to carve out a shooting opportunity at the edge of Meralco’s box. Much to the frustration of the Makati players, however, the shot, which appeared to strike the defender’s arm, was waved away by the referee.

After the break, Manila goalkeeper Ace Villanueva dropped a high ball onto the feet of Jovin Bedic, whose lobbed shot was cleared off the line. 20 minutes into the second half, though, Makati’s fight back was derailed completely.

From a Meralco corner, Jordan Mintah was adjudged to have struck the back of Milan Nikolic’s head, prompting the referee to award a penalty, and brandish a red card. While Mintah looked confused by the decision as he walked off, Phil Younghusband buried the resulting spot kick to secure the victory for Manila.

Although the home team battled hard for the remainder of the match, the vistiors’ back line never wilted.

“Meralco’s defensive line of five was very solid. We were having a hard time breaking that line,” said Noel Marcaida after the match. “That’s the concern, and we will have to address that in our next match against them. They took one game out of four meetings, now we still have three chances against them. We have to think positive.”

“We lacked a rotation in the midfield line,” he admitted. “For 60 minutes, majority of our players had an off game. I think we only played 30 minutes at 100%, and that was after the red card.”

The result keeps Meralco Manila at the top of the standings with 15 points from five matches. Meanwhile, Kaya FC–Makati drops to a 3-1-2 record.