Meralco Manila edged a surprisingly tough Ilocos United side, 2-1, Saturday for its second straight victory in the Philippines Football League at Rizal Memorial Stadium.
A 52nd-minute header from Jake Morallo turned out to be the winner for Meralco, which needed to fight back from a goal down to secure maximum points for the second week.
“We expected a tough match and that’s what happened especially because a big number of players used to play for Meralco,” said coach Aris Caslib. “But we never expected that they will play until the final whistle.”
Meralco found itself behind just 13 minutes into the match when its former player Graham Caygill, now playing up front for Ilocos, fired a volley past Ace Villanueva.
But Meralco equalized five minutes later with new signing Tyler Matas finishing off a flowing move which he started from the leftback position.
The goal settled Meralco and the home side slowly established its authority on the match, limiting Ilocos to half chances.