THE Philippine Azkals played Yemen to another draw, 1-1, in the second leg of the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 Qualifiers on Wednesday at the Saoud Bin Abdulrahman Stadium in Doha, Qatar.
The Yemenis were the first to score after a scoreless first half, with Tawfik Ali striking quickly in the 63rd minute after his teammates pinned down the Azkal defenders.
From the Philippines’ side, Mike Ott came up with the equalizer, connecting from a pass from Phil Younghusband in the 89th minute.
The Azkals will remain on top of Group F with their 2-2-0 win-draw-loss record.
The game saw the return of defender Daisuke Sato after serving his suspension in the first leg for the Azkals.
In their first game against Yemen, Sato got another yellow card, leading to his suspension, which he served in their second encounter with the same team.
Sato’s heroics at the left back position provided the Azkals the needed energy to keep up with Yemen offense.
The Azkals had good opportunities to score in the first 10 minutes of the game.
But attempts from Mike Ott and Sato went off-target.
The Yemeni were in control of the rest of the first half, with their frontline creating chances for themselves to score.