MANILA -- Despite yet another loss, the Philippine Azkals showed that they can be at par with China.
The Azkals held China to just two goals in a friendly in Guangzhou on Friday night.
Wu Xi opened the scoring for China in the 14th minute.
However, the home side needed 40 minutes before getting its second goal from Zhang Xizhe.
The Azkals then lost one player as Daisuke Sato was sent off in the 69th minute for accumulating two yellow cards.
But they held China the rest of the way to keep the 2-0 scoreline.
Since the AFF Suzuki Cup last year, the Azkals have yet to win an international game in their past six tries, although their defeat to China was a far cry from their 2017 clash, where China dropped eight goals.
The result was an improvement of sorts as well from their last meeting in the AFC Asian Cup, where China won, 3-0. (PNA)
