THE Philippine Azkals scored three early and eventually held on to a shaky 3-2 win over Timor Leste to stay unbeaten in Group B of the AFF Suzuki Cup on Saturday in Malaysia.
Phil Younghusband, Martin Steuble and Carli de Murga all got on the scorer's sheet before Timor Leste gave the Philippines a late scare with consecutive goals in a three minute span.
Younghusband opened the scoring in the 27th minute as he connected with Stephan Schrock before scoring the opener with a goal that was slightly deflected by Adrerito Fernandes before hitting the night.
Steuble then padded the lead five minutes later scoring from right outside the box off a short freekick from Kevin Ingreso to put the Azkals ahead by two goals at halftime.
Ingreso then had a huge hand in the third goal as he found De Murga who headed home the third goal in the 68th minute.
The scare came for the Azkals as they conceded a penalty moments later, with Nataniel Rais scoring from the spot in the 73rd minute.
That threat became even more immense two minutes later when Joao Pedro weaved through the Azkals defense before scoring past Michael Falkesgaard in sensational fashion.
Luckily for the Azkals, they were able to regain their bearings in time to hold on to the win and keep in step with Thailand atop the group with six points.
Thailand earlier beat Indonesia 4-2 ahead of their clash with the Philippines on Tuesday at the Panaad Stadium.