United City held by Beijing in ACL debut

Reigning Philippines Football League (PFL) champions United City FC begins their first-ever AFC Champions League campaign with a draw as Chinese Super League club Beijing FC holds them to a 1-1 stalemate in their Group I match earlier at the Bunyodkor Stadium in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

Despite having 74 per cent of the possession and a barrage of opportunities, the Clark-based side was forced to a draw by a young but organized Beijing side, notably composed of reserve players without an outfield player above the age of 21.

United City made a strong start to the match, dictating the flow and getting to their rhythm with their possession-based attacking game plan. Eventually, their patience was rewarded in the 28th minute as captain Stephan Schrock scored the opening goal in an amazing fashion as he received the ball off the corner, made his way inside the penalty box, and whipped in a curling shot past Beijing goalkeeper Guo Quanbo and into the top corner.

The debutants continued to assert their dominance in the match in the second half and got more opportunities. Hikaru Minegishi broke through the Beijing defense in the 50th minute and fired a shot but Guo was able to parry it away. Nine minutes later, it was Bienvenido Maranon’s turn to miss a big chance as the star forward was only able to manage a weak effort from Schrock’s searching cross which was easily saved by Guo.

Failure to convert these chances came back to bite United City, as Beijing suddenly equalized against the run of play in the 73th minute. Naibijiang Mohemaiti was fouled by Jung Da-hwon in a dangerous spot and the young Chinese side capitalized on its only shot on target as 19-year-old defender Liang Shaowen converts an unstoppable free-kick from 25 yards out, giving goalkeeper Anthony Pinthus no chance.

It started a brief shaky period for United City as Beijing’s newfound confidence soared after the equalizer and nearly scored another one in the 82nd minute as midfielder Xie Long Fei almost got to the end of a searching cross from the right-hand side.

United City eventually wrested back control of the match in search for a match-winner but up to no avail. Amin Nazari missed a couple of long-range chances late in the match while substitute Matt Hartmann almost converted a spectacular out-of-the-box shot in the 91st minute but was denied by the crossbar.

The Filipino side will next face K-League club Daegu FC on Tuesday, June 29.