MANILA – The Philippine Azkals survived a late rally by Timor Leste to escape with a 3-2 victory to stay undefeated in the 2018 AFF Suzuki Cup at the Kuala Lumpur Stadium in Malaysia.
Phil Younghusband and Martin Steuble fired a goal each in the opening half while Carli de Murga connected one early in the second half to propel the Azkals to their second straight win Saturday night.
Luke Woodland and Manny Ott were out with injuries while star goalkeeper Neil Etheridge left to play for Cardiff City in the English Premier League – rendering the Azkals shorthanded entering the match.
Despite these absences, the Azkals were able to hold front early as goalkeeper Michael Falkesgaard denied a close attempt by Timor Leste’s Nelson Viegas.
The Azkals went on the board in the 27th as Younghusband connected past the defense.
Just before the break the Philippines extended the lead to 2 as Steuble was left all alone on the edge. The lead expanded 3-0 at the onset of the second half with de Murga heading a missed free kick by Kevin Ingreso.
Just when the Azkals thought the match was settled, Timor Leste mounted a huge fight-back with back-to-back conversions from Nataniel Reis and Joao Pedro to come to within 2-3.
The Azkals tightened their defense since then, blocking every attempt from Timor Leste to equalize and secure the much-needed win before facing off with Thailand on Wednesday at the Panaad Park and Stadium in Bacolod City.
“It’s a very important win to have a chance to go through to the semifinals,” said Azkals mentor Sven-Göran Eriksson. “But I think we have to improve. We can do much better than we did in the second half but anyhow we won.”/PN
