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With their places in the semi-finals already booked, the Philippine Azkals got out of the group stages of the 2018 Bangabandhu Gold Cup with a perfect record after shutting down the tournament hosts Bangladesh in their encounter.
The hosts went out blazing right out of the gates as they try to entertain their home fans. However, it was the Philippines who got the first goal on the 24th minute. A lovely break away from skipper Misagh Bahadoran saw him pass the ball through for Kenshiro Daniels who then slotted it past the keeper despite the tight angle to score his first international goal.
Not wanting to back down, Bangladesh went on the offensive for the rest of the first half after conceding the opening goal. On the 32nd minute, a header from the corner tried its way into the goal but the Azkals' defence was alert to the danger.
On to the second half, the hosts flicked the speed up into their attack to try and get an equaliser to delight the crowd. It took 25 minutes before the hosts were able to produce a dangerous attack.
On the 70th minute, Mohammad Nabib Newaz Ziban met a lovely cross from the right with a header towards the goal but his attempt went wide of the post. They tried again to break through the sturdy hands of Louie Casas from a corner but the keeper was able to tap it away from goal.
Although he tapped it just as far as where Ziban was, the striker's attempt went flying across the goal post. A little bit of scare for the home crowd as an impending insurance goal for the Azkals almost came in on the 75th minute.
Bahadoran broke loose through a pass from Jovin Bedic but the keeper was the first one to it. The Filipino striker seemed to have clipped Islam Rana which got him a yellow card. With five minutes remaining into the match, Bangladesh went in for the equaliser through Mohammad Jabed Khan's header but his attempt was too easy for Casas.
A late scramble on the 94th minute of the match almost saw the hosts level the game at the death but Casas was able to hold on the header attempt towards his goal. In the end, the Philippines came out with a well-deserved victory after holding off the tournament hosts to remain unbeaten towards the semi-finals of the Bangabandhu Gold Cup.
