The grueling Group A action of the 2022 ASEAN Football Federation Women’s Championship came to an eventful conclusion as Thailand barged in to the semifinals and topped the group with a 1-0 win against the Philippines Tuesday evening at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.

Veteran forward Kanyanat Chetthabutr took a chance for a header off the bounce coming from a high ball from Ploychompoo Somnuek at the 75th minute.

Eluding the defense of center back Dominique Randle and the early close out of goalkeeper Olivia McDaniel, Kanyanat managed to jump over the smaller Sofia Harrison for the goal, her 14th in international games.

“We knew going in to the match it’ll be a hard game. The players worked hard being more physical than a taller and bigger Filipino side,” remarked Thailand head coach Miyo Okamoto after the game.

The win was the fourth of Thailand, along with a draw against Australia in their second game, to top Group A with 13 points.

The Filipinas drop to second place with their only loss after four won games for 12 points.

Ousted in contention was Australia, which had 10 points despite winning, 6-0, against fifth place Malaysia in Imus.

Singapore placed fourth with four points, sending Indonesia to the cellar with a 2-0 win in Biñan.

Undefeated squads Vietnam and Myanmar have earlier advanced to the semifinals in Group B as the result of their tussle tomorrow in Manila will determine the semifinals pairings.

While tied with nine points each, the defending champion has the slight edge against the perennial third-placer with a +2 goal differential edge.

The Filipinas have actually had more shots (12-9) and chances on goal (5-4) against the Thais but goalkeeper Chotmanee Thongmongkol made two crucial saves while the Thais found a break when a tackle against Sarina Bolden at the 88th minute was not called for a penalty.

Center back Jessica Cowart had the first clear shot on goal off a right corner kick from Sara Eggesvik at the 29th minute but the direct strike was blocked by Chotmanee.

Eggesvik then had a clear path for a volley at the 61st minute but was handily saved by the goalkeeper.

A few minutes before Kanyanat’s goal, forward Quinley Quezada, who in this game played as midfielder and occasional defender, took a shot from center box that went too high while a chance for a point blank shot by Anicka Castañeda was too soft to reach the goal.

Bolden, who came as a late substitute for starting forward Carleigh Friles, went for a quick last minute equalizer that was successfully tackled by the Thai defense line.

The semifinals is set on Friday at the Rizal Memorial Stadium pending the final pairings.

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