MANILA – The United City Football Club earned its first win in the 2021 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League by upsetting China’s Beijing Guoan, 3-2, on Thursday night at the Lokomotiv Stadium in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
Mark Hartmann spearheaded the triumph with his two goals, while newly-naturalized booter Bienvenido Marañon scored one as the United City FC became the first Filipino-based football club to win in Asia’s biggest club competition.
The reigning Philippines Football League champion seemed headed to another disaster after surrendering a goal to Beijing Guoan with 38 seconds remaining via a hit from Jiang Wenhao.
Beijing quickly doubled the advantage at the fourth-minute mark behind Leng Jixuan’s close-range hit. The Philippine representatives nearly scraped the deficit before the halftime break, but Amin Nazari miscalculated his header.
United City kicked off their uprising in the second half to trim the deficit to 1-2 on Hartmann’s free-kick at the 59th-minute mark. The game was evened at 2-2 after Marañon tapped the ball from a scramble at the 69th minute.
Beijing Guoan nearly snatched the lead back, but their attempt hit the post. Hartmann’s second conversion at the 80th minute gave United City a 3-2 advantage.
The United City FC hiked its record to four points on one victory, one draw, and three defeats. They will close out their group stage assignment against South Korea’s Daegu Football Club on Sunday night.
Meanwhile, victory has remained elusive for the Kaya Futbol Club-Iloilo after conceding a late goal to BG Pathum United for a 1-0 defeat at the Pathum Thani Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
The Iloilo City-based football club played solid for the entire match before committing a miscue at the 83rd-minute mark, which led to the marginal goal of BG Pathum United’s Sarach Yooyen.
With the loss, Kaya-Iloilo remained winless after five matches in their AFC Champions League debut. They will try to end the tournament by winning against Vietnam’s Viettel Football Club on Sunday night./PN
