MANILA, Philippines – Khin Maung Tun rescued an attack-minded 10-man Myanmar side with a goal deep in injury time that salvaged a 1-1 draw against the Philippine Azkals at the start of the group stage of the Asian Football Confederation Challenge Cup a Monday night at the Thuwunna Stadium in Rangoon.
Tun, defender, scored the equalizer in the 92nd minute off a free kick resulting from a foul by midfielder Simon Greatwich as the hosts spoiled the Azkals’ early celebration.
The shot which went around the wall and slipped past Azkals goalkeeper Neil Etheridge ruined the early party of the Filipinos, who already looked headed for a victory after Filipino-British James Younghusband scored a winner in the 76th minute.
Stepping up for his injured and absent brother Phil, James hit his sixth international goal for the Philippines off a penalty kick around the same time when a 5.8 magnitude earthquake, according to US Geological Survey, rocked Luzon at home.
It was the second time both teams battled to a draw in three months, the first ending in scoreless draw during their AFF-Suzuki Cup outing last Dec.
With the draw, both the Azkals and the Burmese collected one point apiece in the group stage which stakes two berths in the main draw next year. Had the Azkals protected Younghusband’s goal, they could have piled up three points in the singles round robin eliminations.
As a result, the Philippines will need to win its next two matches against Palestine and Bangladesh. The Azkals battle the Palestinians at 7:30 p.m. in the same venue Wednesday.
Myanmar went a man down when one of its players was shown a red card 10 minutes before the regulation ended.
But the hosts refused to just roll over and die before Tun scored the equalizer that sent some 30,000 hometown crowd in wild frenzy.
The first half saw the Burmese side attacking the Filipinos relentlessly but the 6-foot-3 Etheridge was always there to frustrate the hosts no end.
Etheridge showed his capability early when he saved a header from Pai Soe in the 8th minute. He made a spectacular save off a header Yan Paing 10 minutes later.
Legions of Azkals fans were disappointed at home as the match was not aired live on ABS-CBN's Studio 23. (MB)
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