The Filipinas suffered their first defeat of the 20th Asian Games, falling 1–5 to China on Monday at the Kariya-City General Athletic Park in Aichi, Japan.
Wang Yanwen single-handedly gave China a fast start against the Philippines, scoring a 20th-minute header that opened the floodgates for the Steel Roses before doubling their lead with a fine right-footed finish past goalkeeper Olivia McDaniel in the 40th minute.
Chen Qiaozhu continued China’s dominance after halftime, scoring from close range in the 48th minute. Then Wang Yanwen completed her hat-trick with another header in the 54th minute to make it 4-0.
Yuan Cong later completed China’s rout by scoring in the second minute of stoppage time.
The Filipinas avoided being shut out, though. Skye Leach converted Katrina Guillou’s corner kick in the 65th minute to give Mark Torcaso’s side a consolation goal.
Despite the lopsided defeat, the Philippines secured a spot in the knockout stages after emerging as the best third-placed team in the group stage. The Filipinas previously drew 1-1 with Uzbekistan last Monday before securing a 2-0 victory over Hong Kong last Thursday.
The Philippines will return to action on Friday against the winner of Group E, which is likely to be Japan.
The hosts currently have six points and a plus-16 goal difference, putting them ahead of Chinese Taipei, which has a plus-two goal difference.
On the regional stage, the Filipinas and Japan last met in the 19th Asian Games, where the latter cruised to an 8-1 victory at the same stage of the competition.
