By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The Philippine Women’s National Football Team continued its majestic campaign in the ongoing 2022 AFF Women’s Championship after demolishing Singapore, 7-0, to maintain a perfect 2-0 record.
Fresh off a stunning upset win against the seeded Australian national team, the Filipinas topped its previous performance and handed Singapore a crushing defeat that put them at the top of Group A with six total points.
The Filipinas only needed eight minutes to draw first blood courtesy of Isabella Flanigan’s well-received short-tap kick that went past Singapore’s goalkeeper.
Two minutes after Flanigan’s conversion, an error from Singapore which resulted in an own goal was credited to PHL’s team captain Tahnai Annis, helping them double their lead with 80 minutes remaining in the match.
Annis officially joined PHL’s goal party after dribbling past Singapore’s defenders and cashed in an overhead goal that was enough to touch the top goal post.
The Singaporeans adjusted quickly and tried to send more help every time the Filipinas pressured for another score but Sarina Bolden broke free in the 38th minute and converted a well-placed header for PHL’s fourth goal in the first half.
Running out of defensive options, Singapore tried to deploy soft double teams against the Filipina strikers but wasn’t enough to halt the bleeding as PHL’s was able to add three more goals in the last 45 minutes of the match.
Sara Eggesvik kicked off the second-half scoring party after sending in a short kick inside Singapore’s penalty box when both squads were fighting for possession of the ball two minutes in after the whistle.
The duo of Kaya Hawkinson and Anicka Castaneda then capped off PHL’s stellar outing after dropping goals in the 55th and 68th minutes, respectively.
PHL will be gunning for their third-straight victory today, at 7 PM, when they square off against the Malaysian national team.
