
The Philippine national team secured a 2-0 victory over Malaysia in their opening match of Group A of the 2025 ASEAN U-23 Championship held at the Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium.
The Philippines' two winning goals were scored by Otu Bisong in the ninth and 40th minutes respectively.
Malaysia dominated throughout the match, possessing 70 percent of the ball and taking 21 shots. However, their ineffective finishing prevented them from scoring.
In contrast, the Philippines were efficient in capitalizing on their chances. The first goal came from Bisong's close-range finish, following a pass from Javier Mariona. The second goal came from a quick counterattack, finished by Bisong after receiving a pass from Uriel Dalapo.
Malaysia created a number of opportunities through Izwan Yuslan, Haqimi Azim Rosli and Fergus Tierney, but all of them were thwarted by the Philippine defense led by goalkeeper Nicholas Guimaraes.
Throughout the match, Malaysia recorded five shots on target, while the Philippines had three. Malaysia also had the advantage in the number of corner kicks, with nine, compared to the Philippines' two.
The match saw four yellow cards for the Philippines, each received by Zachary Taningco, Jian Caraig, Gavin Muens, and Karl Absalon.
With this result, the Philippines leads Group A with three points, while Malaysia has yet to score. Both teams will resume their group stage matches in the coming days.