Sebastian Rasmussen grabbed a second half brace in his senior debut as the Philippines recorded its first win with a 5-1 smashing of Brunei Darussalam last Friday night in the AFF Mitsubishi Electric Cup at Rizal Memorial Stadium.
Missing in the 2-3 defeat to Cambodia last Monday, Rasmussen introduced himself to the home crowd with a couple of cool finishes in the final half to cap a dominant performance by the home side.
Kenshiro Daniels scored his third goal in two matches, opening the scoring early on, before Sandro Reyes scored on a sublime strike to double the lead.
With Indonesia winning over Cambodia, 2-1, in Jakarta, Group A sees four teams all on three points with Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia and Cambodia all with a victory each after two matchdays.
Rasmussen came on for Daniels at halftime with coach Coco Ferre shuffling his squad with an eye on the away clash against Thailand on Monday.
It took only five minutes after the restart for the Azkals to make it 3-nil as Jhan Jhan Melliza found the top corner with his left footed strike, sparking celebrations at the RMS.
It was Melliza’s first international goal, too as the Azkals sustained their dominance. Captain Stephan Schrock came close with a header inside the box that went just wide, while Rasmussen was off target on another opportunity.
Rasmussen got on the scoresheet two minutes later with a stinging effort that Brunei goalkeeper Haimi Nyaring couldn’t keep out.
Substitute Razimi Ramili pulled a goal back for Brunei in the 68th minute, before Rasmussen capped the win with a cool finish.