The Philippine Azkals now have one chance left to make it to the next stage after they suffered their second consecutive defeat in the Asian Football Confederation Asian Cup 2019 late Friday.
The Azkals were able to create few scoring chances in the second half, but Team Dragon of China showed too much class.
The Mainland Chinese penetrated the Azkals’ determined defensive effort for a 3-0 win on Friday night at the Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi.
China has now joined Korea and Jordan in the Group of 16.
With their second straight loss, the Azkals are set to close out their Group C campaign on Jan. 16 against Kyrgyzstan.
After losing to South Korea, 0-1, Kyrgyzstan also needs a big win like the Azkals.
Both are now keeping their fading hopes alive.
On other hand, Jordan reached the Group of 16 after their 1-0 win over Australia and 2-0 triumph over Syria.
The four best third-placed teams from the six groups will advance to the knockout stage.
In Friday’s encounter, China’s first goal came after four attempts in the first half, when Wu Lei right-footed a shot from the right side of the box to the top left corner and off an assist by Hao Junmin in the 40th minute.
Wu found his chance to knocked the first goal after receiving a pass from the right wing at the edge of the penalty box on the half turn.
From there, Wu unleashed a volley into the top corner, beyond the reach of Azkals’ keeper Michael Faalkesgaard, who could only watch the ball sail over his head.
After four more attempts, they got another goal off Wu, who hit the ball from the center of the box to the high center of the goal, with Hao Junmin assisting with a cross in the 66th minute.
Moments after he came in as a sub, Yu Dabao came through with another goal came in the 80th minute very close range to the bottom right corner following a corner.
China’ second win in Group C put them in strong contention to make it to the knockout stages with Korea.
The Azkals, now almost out of contention, had two chances to score.
The first came in the 23rd minute, when an attempt by Javier Patiño was blocked after he unleashed a volley shot from the center of the box.
John-Patrick Strauss tried to score for the Philippines, but his left-footed shot from the center of the box was too close and missed.
Korea Republic, in claiming a 1-0 win over Kyrgyz Republic at the Hazza bin Zayed Stadium, found their scoring chance some four minutes before the break when Hong Chul’s corner kick was received by Kim Min-jae with a glancing header into the bottom corner.
