Hali Long completed a hat-trick and Anicka Castañeda scored a double as the Philippines routed host Tajikistan 8-0 in the Women's Asian Cup qualifiers in Dushanbe on Friday.

The Malditas need at least a draw with Bahrain on Monday to reach the Cup finals to be held in Jordan in April 2018.

The win didn't stop Philippines head coach Letecia Bautista from pointing out areas that need improvement.

“We could’ve controlled the game better and we were a bit erratic early on. We need to work on our passing and distribution,” Bautista said.

Group A table
Country	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	PTS
Jordan	3	3	0	0	22	0	22	9
Philippines	3	3	0	0	16	0	16	9
Bahrain	3	1	1	1	5	7	-2	4
Tajikistan	3	1	0	2	1	12	-11	3
UAE	3	0	1	2	1	11	-10	1
Iraq	3	0	0	3	0	15	-15	0
~Standings after April 5 games

“With the momentum we’re having right now, we can go into the match on Monday with a positive attitude — but we don’t want to underestimate Bahrain.

“But before then we will enjoy Dushanbe, as we have two rest days tomorrow and Sunday. We will do some light exercises, have a tour of the city and on Sunday we will go back to the routine.”

The Philippines was in attack mode early at Republican Central Stadium and got on the board in the 17th minute when Eva Madarang found the net from 5 1/2 meters.

The 1st half ended with the visitors up 3-0 thanks to goals by Castañeda and Long.

The Malditas continued their assault after the break, with Sara Castañeda adding to the lead and Long scoring 2 more.

Anicka Castaneda and substitute Mary Duran punctuated the victory with 2 late goals.

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