Philippines bows to Laos

By ADRIAN STEWART CO

The Philippine men’s national U-23 football team failed to hang on to its early lead to suffer a 2-3 defeat to Laos in the 2020 AFC U-23 Championship qualifier on Tuesday at Shah Alam Stadium in Selangor, Malaysia.
Jarvey Gayoso put the young Azkals on top after 11 minutes with his left boot after receiving a headed pass from Kyle Magdato. The lead was nearly doubled later in the opening half but the Philippines misfired its penalty.
In the second half, Laos nearly pulled off an equalizer but fell short on its close range attempt. The Azkals increased the lead to 2-0 at the 65th minute on another conversion from Gayoso.
Laos then began to fight back when Kaharn Phetsivilay dribbled past the defense before placing the ball past Philippines’ Michael Asong at the 74th minute. It was quickly followed by an equalizer from Tiny Bounmalay of Laos.

With the score tied at 2-all, Laos continued to press on the Azkals’ before getting the winning goal on the 92nd minute when Bounphachan Bounkong received a lovely pass from Phoutthasay Khochalern.
With the defeat, the Salvador Salvacion-mentored Philippines ended their campaign in the qualifiers without a victory in three matches./ASC, WDJ