By ADRIAN STEWART CO

The Filipinas overcame an early deficit to score a 4-1 victory over Chinese-Taipei at the start of the second round of the AFC Women’s Olympic qualifying tournament at the Perth Rectangular Stadium in  Australia on Thursday, October 26.

Sarina Bolden connected two goals, while Katrine Guillou and Chandler McDaniel added a conversion each as the Philippine women’s football team surged to an early 1-0 lead in the Group A standings.

The Filipinas nearly took the lead in the 33rd minute as Guillou slotted the close-range goal past the Chinese-Taipei goalkeeper, but it was waved off by the referees for being offside.

After a scoreless first half, Chinese-Taipei took the advantage early in the second half, with Hsu Yi-yun connecting from inside the box past the defense of Filipinas’ Olivia McDaniel in the 47th minute.

The Philippine women’s football team got the equalizer in the 54th minute, as Bolden easily connected with a penalty kick, which came after her teammate, Meryll Soriano, was fouled inside the box.

The Mark Toscano-mentored Filipinas took the advantage seven minutes later, as Guillou eluded the opposition defenders and finished a nice pass from team captain Tahnai Annis.

Bolden, the country’s top international goal scorer, completed her brace in the 82nd minute before McDaniel capped off Filipinas’ lopsided win with an 89th minute hit from a pass by Angela Beard.

The national women’s football team’s win against Chinese Taipei came after their dominant wins in the first round against Pakistan (4-0), Tajikistan (8-0) and Hong Kong (4-0) earlier this year.

The Filipinas will return to action against Australia at the Perth Stadium on Sunday afternoon, October 29, before finishing their group stage assignment against Iran at the same venue on November 1.

The top team from the group will automatically advance to the third round of the Paris Olympics qualifier, while the second-place team will only advance if they have the better goal difference./ASC, WDJ