Cebu back in AFC Cup contention as Rufo leaves it late to stun Yangon

Rufo Sanchez saved Global Cebu's blushes as he won their tiff with Yangon with time almost ran out. AFC photo
By Kevin Estrada

MANILA -- Not yet out.

Global Cebu are back in the hunt for the AFC Cup  knockout stage in the most dramatic fashion, dealing Group G leaders Yangon United its first defeat with a nail-biting 2-1 win on Tuesday night at the Rizal Memorial.

Marjo Allado's men thought that they are exiting the tournament at the group stage heading into the waning moments, but they got their act together to get all three points for the Queen City side with the final kick of the match.

It also ended Allado's five-match winless run in the tournament, in which he only picked two draws in the stretch.

The win put them in the hunt for at least runner-up honors in the group even as Thanh Hoa found itself at the bottom as well after the Vietnamese side only mustered a draw against Bali United.

Cebu and Yangon were locked even in the first 79 minutes, but that changed a minute later when Darryl Roberts headed the ball from a Dominic Del Rosario free kick to draw first blood.

Maung Maung Lwin silenced Adriatico with a header of his own in the 90th minute, as Yangon hoped to hold the result to send Cebu packing with two matches to spare.

However, Rufo got the call from Takuto Okabe at the final minute of injury time, and the Spanish striker made no mistake in slotting the spot kick into the bottom right corner, ending an agonising stretch for the three-time champions of the Philippines.

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