By Kevin Estrada
The Philippines unleashed its strength to open the second round of the AFC Women’s Olympic Qualifying tournament, having come from a goal down to win 4-1 over Chinese Taipei at the Perth Rectangular Stadium in Western Australia on Thursday, October 26.
Mark Torcaso’s fighting Filipinas recovered from a 47th-minute strike by Hsu Yi-yun to score four unanswered goals of their own to get their Group A campaign on a winning note.
Forward Sarina Bolden extends her stay as the Malditas’ top scorer with a brace, notching her first with a 54th-minute equalizer from the spot after midfielder Merryl Serrano was taken down by defender Zhuo Li-ping.
Katrina Guillou then put the Filipinas ahead at the hour mark, latching on a Tahnai Annis pass to fire her right-footed shot past Taipei goalkeeper Cheng Ssu-yu.
Bolden then completed her double in the 83rd minute, pouncing on a missed clearance by the Chinese Taipei backline to fire the ball back into the net with her right foot, scoring her 28th international goal in the process.
Substitute Chandler McDaniel then put on the finishing touches just before stoppage time, firing home a low cross by Angela Beard with a neat strike that hit the bottom of the crossbar and bounced past the line.
With the host Matildas’ 2-0 win over Iran in the later match, the Malditas go on top of the group ahead of their titanic clash on Sunday, October 29 at the sold-out Perth Stadium in Burswood.
PHILIPPINES: O. McDaniel (GK), Randle (Barker 52’), Cowart, Long, Annis ©, Bolden (C. McDaniel 86’), Eggesvik, Bonta (Sawicki 52’), Beard, Serrano (Quezada 72’), Guillou (Madarang 86’)
CHINESE TAIPEI: Cheng Ssu-yu (GK), Lin Chiung-ying © (Lai Li-chin 71’), Zhuo Li-ping, Hsu Yi-yun, Su Yu-hsuan, Wu Kai Ching, Ting Chia-ying, Lan Yu-chieh (Chan Bi-han 71’), Ting Chi (Lee Hsiu-chin 71’), Lin Hsin-hui, Chen Yin-hui
Photo credit: PFF/PWNT/Neil Bravo
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