MANILA – China just proved to be too much for the Philippine men’s football team as it dealt a 3-0 beat down in the 2019 AFC Asian Cup on Friday night at the Mohammed Bid Zayid Stadium in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Wu Lei anchored Chinese’s offense with a goal each in first and second half, while Yu Dabao added another conversion late in the game to tally its second victory in Group C for six points.
Just like in their match against South Korea last Monday, the Azkals were on point defensively early in the match despite numerous attempts by the Chinese to open the scoring.
After an exchange of misses from Azkals’ Javier Patino and China’s Hao Junmin, the Chinese finally drew first blood late in the opening half as Wu, who was way outside, looped the ball over Azkals’ keeper Michael Falkesgaard and into the top corner.
Chinese attempted to double the lead early in the second half but Falkesgaard was there to block the attempts. Wu finally notched the 2-0 edge in the 66th minute as his volley off a free kick came flying past Falkesgaard.
Wu had a chance to complete a hat trick at 79th minute of the game but his hit was blocked away. Yu, however, notched China’s third conversion on a header at the 80th minute.
With the defeat, the Azkals must win their final group match against Kyrgyzstan on Wednesday in Dubai and hope for a favorable results from the other group to advance to the last 16 as one of the four best third-placed teams./PN
