INQUIRER Sports

MANILA, Philippines ? The Philippines suffered a controversial 2-3 defeat to host Maldives Thursday (April 16) night, dimming its chances of advancing at the AFC Challenge Cup at the National Stadium in Maldives.

A header from top defender Aly Borromeo put the Filipinos in front in the 10th minute, before disaster struck 14 minutes later when Borromeo was given a straight red card for bringing down Ashfag Dhagey inside the box.

Fazeel Ibrahim beat Neil Etheridge in the resulting penalty kick to equalize.

It marked the first time that the 19-year-old Etheridge, a reserve goalkeeper for English Premiere League squad Fulham, had conceded a goal in the tournament.

Borromeo's absence took a toll on the nationals as they yielded goals to Ashfaq Ali on the stroke of halftime and another to Naseer Mhukthar eight minutes from time.

Chad Gould, the Filipino-British striker who scored the winning goal in the 1-0 triumph over Bhutan, headed a consolation goal two minutes into injury time.

Coach Aris Caslib lamented Borromeo?s exit, saying it threw the team?s game plan in disarray.

"Everything worked as planned until that bad call," said Caslib, whose team is now hard-pressed to win big over Turkmenistan on Saturday (April 18) to stand a chance of either topping the group or finishing as the second-best team.

"If it was indeed a foul, the most he could have given was a yellow card," he added via email.

The Turks crushed Bhutan, 7-0, Thursday night for their second straight win that also solidified their hold of the lead, while the Filipinos remain in second, barely ahead of Maldives on goal difference.