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Manila Bulletin devider Sports devider United City beats Beijing Guoan, becomes first PH team to win in ACL

United City beats Beijing Guoan, becomes first PH team to win in ACL

Published Jul 9, 2021 09:01 am

Photo from AFC

United City became the first Filipino club to score a victory in the AFC Champions League after overcoming a two-goal deficit to defeat Beijing Guoan, 3-2, Thursday, July 8 at the Lokomotiv Stadium in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

Mark Hartmann scored two goals, including the winner in the 80th minute as the Philippine Football League champions took the full three points despite allowing Beijing to take a 2-0 lead in the first four minutes of their second Group I match.

The club also got the job done after drawing 1-1 with the same Chinese Super League side in their previous meeting last June 26 when Beijing equalized with less than 20 minutes from stoppage time.

This time, United City had to do it the hard way after the Beijing club that opted to send its young players instead of the first team went ahead early on goals from Jiang Wenhao and Leng Jixuan.

It took shortly before the hour mark to launch United City’s comeback as Hartmann pulled one back off a free kick.

Bienvenido Maranon celebrated his first match since becoming a naturalized Filipino by bundling the equalizer in the 69th from close range.

Leng almost put Beijing back on top but his low attempt hit the far left post, setting up a United City counterattack that led to Hartmann’s go-ahead score in the 80th.

UCFC finally got the elusive victory after that draw against Beijing and being pounded 7-0 by South Korean club Daegu and 8-0 by Kawasaki Frontale during the first round of the group stage.

A decent outing in a 2-0 loss to Kawasaki last Monday gave UCFC something to hope for before wrapping up its campaign in Asia’s top club competition.

United City moved into third place in the four-team Group I with four points with one game left in its campaign.

Meanwhile, Kaya-Iloilo was denied of a historic first point in the Champions League after conceding a goal late in a 1-0 defeat to BG Pathum United in their Group F match at rainy Leo Stadium in Pathum Thani, Thailand.

Kaya had kept the game scoreless until the 83rd minute when BG Pathum United struck the winning goal after Sarach Yooyen rolled a shot past several defenders.

It was a heartbreaking result for Kaya, which showed some improvement each game despite having lost its previous four matches.

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