Franksson scores brace as Laos stuns Stallion with unlikely stalemate

Patrick Franksson's brace proved pivotal for Laos, as they get the biggest result of the season by sharing honors with Stallion in a four-goal stalemate. Nevin Reyes/UFL
By Julian Reyes


MANILA--Striker Patrick Franksson bagged a brace to lead Laos into a stunning stalemate against Stallion in their opening matches in the second round of the UFL Sunday afternoon at the Rizal Memorial Stadium

Franksson found the back of the net twice for Jovanie Villagracia in the second half to help the Division 2 champions weather an aggressive showing by Ernie Nierras' men who are still stuck in sixth after the match.

Stallion had numerous chances to take away the game for good down the stretch but the resiliency Laos had shown was simply too tough as the latter settled for their first draw of the season. This was Stallion's third game which ended at a stalemate, after were held also to a stalemate by Green Archers United three weeks ago.

The 21-year old completed his brace the 76th minute when he converted an Aaron Altiche's cross from the right wing to share the spoils between them.
Franksson earlier knotted the count after outsmarting Andrew Tan three minutes into the restart.
In the first half, Fitch Arboleda broke the silence in the 27th minute after converting a follow-up shot off a Ruben Doctora's missed chance inside the box.

After allowing Franksson to score his first, the former league champions regained control of the match eight minutes later when Bae Dong-Min scored a goal, resulted from an Ashley Flores' block on Joshua Beloya's cross.
Playing inspired, Franksson however still found a way for Laos, despite Stallion's pesky defense, to cap the back-and-forth match with the equalizer fourteen minutes before full time, but is still not enough for them to escape the cellar, in which they picked their seventh point of the season.

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