Marikina FC nips Davao Aguilas in Football League

Matches on Saturday (Quirino Stadium) 4 p.m. – Ilocos United vs Ceres Negros (Marikina Sports Complex) 7 p.m. – JPV Marikina vs FC Meralco Manila

JPV Marikina FC scored a 3-2 away victory over Davao Aguilas to vault to joint second in the Philippines Football League yesterday at the packed Davao del Norte Sports Complex.

The visitors leaned on the scoring prowess of Takashi Odawara, Boyet Canado and Takemi Uesato to take all three points and frustrate the 4,384 who came in to cheer for the Aguilas on their turf in Tagum.

The victory enabled Marikina to not only bounce back from its opening 1-2 loss to Global Cebu the week before but also catch up with the People’s Club at No. 2 behind FC Meralco Manila’s six-pointer.

The Aguilas actually had slight control of possession overall at a 53 percent rate but Marikina created more scoring opportunities, launching six shots on target and seven off-target against Davao’s five-on, one-off. The visitors also won seven more corners than the hosts’ one.

Marikina took just two minutes to draw first blood with Odawara on the scoring end. But the lead lasted just six minutes as Dylan de Bruycker fired the equalizer from the top of the box.

The visitors regained the upperhand at the 20th with Canedo curling it in from a free-kick then made it 3-1 with Uesato’s 84th minute header.

Davao mounted a rally in the windup but managed to pull just one back with De Bruycker getting his brace on the spot kick at the second minute of stoppage time.

The Aguilas, who played Ilocos to a 1-1 draw last week, remained with one point.

Sitting on top of the table two weeks into the inaugural Philippines Football League season, FC Meralco Manila coach Aris Caslib feels his squad has yet to play to its potential after toiling to a come-from-behind 2-1 victory over newcomer Ilocos United last Saturday at Rizal Stadium.