After a 3-2 loss to Cambodia in their first match in the AFF Mitsubishi Electric Cup, the Azkals make a comeback with a 5-1 victory over Brunei.
The Azkals hosted the Football Association of Brunei tonight at the Rizal Memorial Stadium for their first AFF Mitsubishi Electric Cup match on home soil.
And playing in familiar territory seemed to work out well for the Philippine side, as they recorded their first victory in the tournament, with a 5-1 win.
Kenshiro Daniels and Sandro Reyes opened the scoring of the match, netting two goals for the Azkals to bring them 2-0 into halftime. This marked Reyes’ first international goal on the senior level — a feat for the talented youngster.
Coming into the second half with the advantage, Jesus Melliza added another layer of comfort for the Azkals with a clean strike into the top corner, bringing them to a three-goal lead.
A few minutes later, Sebastian Rasmussen scored yet another one to convert a counterattack, making it 4-0 in the Azkals’ favor.
In the 70th minute, Brunei was finally able to find some life with a goal from Razimie Ramlli to bring the deficit back down to three.
However, with two minutes left to play, the Philippines sealed the win with a second goal from Rasmussen. The final whistle blew with 5-2 on the scoreboard.
After tonight’s victory, the Azkals were able to add three points to their standing in their group. Currently, Indonesia, Cambodia, and Thailand also all have three points. With this, the team will definitely be coming into their next match looking to add another to the win column.
The Azkals will be facing Thailand on Monday, December 26, at 8:30 PM.
Banner image from Philippine Football Federation on Instagram.
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