(CNN Philippines) — Global FC dominated Yadanarbon FC, 4-1, in the AFC Cup group stages at the new Philippine Sports Stadium in Bocaue, Bulacan on Wednesday (April 15).
Leigh Manson, coach of Global FC, seemed pleased his wards came out with the victory for the first match held at the 25,000-capacity arena.
“It’s overwhelming,” said Manson. “It was a new stadium and everyone connected with it, giving us a magnificent platform to get this win.”
Global FC got on the scoreboard first, breaking the ice after Mark Hartmann scored a penalty to make it 1-0.
Falling behind early seemed to spur the Burmese side which struck back within 4 minutes, after striker Yan Paing tucked in a low shot past Patrick Deyto following a corner.
Sloppy play from the back for Yadanarbon resulted to another goal from Hartmann to end the half at 2-1.
The balance of play stayed in Global’s favor in the second half. After quelling an attack from Yadanarbon, the Filipino midfield released Misagh Bahadoran on the right hand side to extend the cushion to 3-1.
Frustration began to show for Yadanarbon when defender Zaw Lin Tun was sent off after fouling Amani Aguinaldo in the box during a corner attempt. The resulting penalty saw the Yadanarbon keeper deny Hartmann his first hat trick.
Burmese defender Tin Win Aung was sent his marching orders for a second bookable offense leaving Yadanarbon with only nine men to finish the match.
It was all one way traffic from then on as Global FC capped things off with a Renato Gonzales free kick outside the opposition box at the 84th minute to finish the game off at 4-1.
After the loss, Yadanarbon coach Kyi Naing lamented the performance of his wards.
“Today was an unfair result,” said Naing, whose team played without Okpechi Happiness.
The first choice center-half was deported back to Myanmar due to visa issues upon arrival in the Philippines.
“Happiness, was a major loss to our team,” Naing added.
Leigh Manson, on the other hand, was confident that even if Happiness played today, the result wouldn’t have been different.
“I don’t think that Happiness would’ve had much joy here with Misagh’s pace,” Manson said. “We would’ve still gotten the result.”
This victory gave Global FC three points to keep their hopes alive for the knockout stages in the AFC Cup.
Global FC returns to action in the AFC Cup against South China AA on April 29 in Hong Kong.
