In the lone Saturday night matchup for the Philippines Football League, FC Meralco Manila spoiled the much-anticipated Younghusband homecoming with a 2-0 victory over the Davao Aguilas at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium.
Goals from Tahj Minniecon and Jake Morallo in the second half propelled the Sparks to the win, retaining their six-point gap against their upcoming opponents Kaya FC-Makati atop the PFL standings with 44 points.
The Sparks got the first scoring opportunity of the match, with Minniecon firing a long range attempt directly at Marko Trkulja in the 18th minute. Tahj got a second chance in the 35th minute, but his volley off a Tyler Matas throw-in sailed over. Daniel Gadia also had a chance just before the halftime whistle, but was off-target. As for Davao, Matthew Hartmann, Harry Sawyer, and Dylan de Bruycker came close to their respective chances, but unable to convert.
Davao had the first crack of breaking the deadlock in the second half, with Hartmann's left-footed shot forcing an acrobatic save from Junjun Badelic, but it was the Sparks that managed to finally score in the 52nd minute, as Anto Gonzales found Minniecon for the score. The Aussie sent a low drive to the left side of Trkulja for his fifth goal of the season.
Alvin Sarmiento had a chance to double the lead thirteen minutes later, but his volley sailed high. The hosts finally got that insurance goal from Jake Morallo in the 83rd minute, as the substitute nodded home a Matas delivery from the left flank into the lower left corner.
NOTES: Head coach Aris Caslib made just one change to the side that faced Global last week, with Gadia replacing team skipper Simon Greatwich at midfield. Canas inherited the captaincy in Simon's absence.
Matas has continued his "iron man" like streak in the PFL, having played every single minute for the Sparks this season.
Post-match quotes:
Caslib on Gadia being named as the Man of the Match: "Gadia understood his role, to control Matt Hartmann and play in front of the backline. He also worked well with Anto."
Gadia on playing alongside Gonzales, who coached him at UP: "Playing with Anto was like playing with my Dad. He taught me everything about football in college. He corrected me on the small details."
Caslib on their gameplan today: "Our plan was that when Phil and James get the ball, we would double-team them. That's why there were so many orange shirts around them whenever they received the ball."
Marlon Maro on the loss: "Two games in so short a time is hard for us."
Maro on the current roster construction: "Our team is not balanced. I have too many midfielders and not enough side defenders."
Goals from Tahj Minniecon and Jake Morallo in the second half propelled the Sparks to the win, retaining their six-point gap against their upcoming opponents Kaya FC-Makati atop the PFL standings with 44 points.
The Sparks got the first scoring opportunity of the match, with Minniecon firing a long range attempt directly at Marko Trkulja in the 18th minute. Tahj got a second chance in the 35th minute, but his volley off a Tyler Matas throw-in sailed over. Daniel Gadia also had a chance just before the halftime whistle, but was off-target. As for Davao, Matthew Hartmann, Harry Sawyer, and Dylan de Bruycker came close to their respective chances, but unable to convert.
Davao had the first crack of breaking the deadlock in the second half, with Hartmann's left-footed shot forcing an acrobatic save from Junjun Badelic, but it was the Sparks that managed to finally score in the 52nd minute, as Anto Gonzales found Minniecon for the score. The Aussie sent a low drive to the left side of Trkulja for his fifth goal of the season.
Alvin Sarmiento had a chance to double the lead thirteen minutes later, but his volley sailed high. The hosts finally got that insurance goal from Jake Morallo in the 83rd minute, as the substitute nodded home a Matas delivery from the left flank into the lower left corner.
NOTES: Head coach Aris Caslib made just one change to the side that faced Global last week, with Gadia replacing team skipper Simon Greatwich at midfield. Canas inherited the captaincy in Simon's absence.
Matas has continued his "iron man" like streak in the PFL, having played every single minute for the Sparks this season.
Post-match quotes:
Caslib on Gadia being named as the Man of the Match: "Gadia understood his role, to control Matt Hartmann and play in front of the backline. He also worked well with Anto."
Gadia on playing alongside Gonzales, who coached him at UP: "Playing with Anto was like playing with my Dad. He taught me everything about football in college. He corrected me on the small details."
Caslib on their gameplan today: "Our plan was that when Phil and James get the ball, we would double-team them. That's why there were so many orange shirts around them whenever they received the ball."
Marlon Maro on the loss: "Two games in so short a time is hard for us."
Maro on the current roster construction: "Our team is not balanced. I have too many midfielders and not enough side defenders."
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