Kaya FC-Makati at cusp of PFL postseason berth

The Kaya FC Starting XI in their win over Global Cebu

Kaya FC - Makati is at the cusp of formalizing a berth in the Philippines Football League's Finals Series, as they successfully fended off Global Cebu FC, 2-0, at the University of Makati this past weekend.

The hosts managed to put in a goal in each half against their opposition, with Jordan Mintah breaking the deadlock eight minutes in, off a feed from Robert Lopez Mendy and outmuscling Dennis Villanueva in the process. This is the fifth straight game he has been on the scoresheet, with seventeen goals already this season. He shared afterwards that he had been dealing with an injured foot that would keep him from training in the runup to this match. Jordan adds that he was very grateful for the support from his teammates.

They would then double the lead with substitute Eric Giganto fifteen minutes from time. Off a counter, the FEU alumnus received the ball from Miguel Tanton and then dribbled past Patrick Deyto, before slotting the ball onto an empty net for his fifth goal of the season.

After the match, head coach Noel Marcaida was "very happy" with the result, expressing satisfaction that they "were able to get maximum points against Global." He also noted that the match seemed to not that explosive as he would have thought, adds, "For me, it was a very unusual atmosphere. Kaya Makati versus Global is the type of game where the intensity should be very high... I think we started the first 10 minutes with high intensity. During that period we got the goal. Then the intensity went down. It wasn't the best game we've had, but in the end it was comfortable."

When asked about the Giganto substitution, Marcaida replies, "We wanted to change the intensity of the game." He also remarked, "Eric is such a quality player. He's a very influential sub. Every time he comes in, he really makes sure to do something for the team."

As for his Global Cebu counterpart, Akbar Nawas rued the difficulty of playing at the natural grass surface at the University of Makati. He says, "I think if we put away the chances that we had in the first and second half it would've been a different game.. But anyway, it's as good as it gets on this kind of pitch. The pitch was difficult to play on... With a better pitch, you never know what kind of result we could've put up."