The Philippine national football team brought down a lively Nepal squad during their friendly match at the Rizal Memorial Stadium in Manila on Thursday.

Jarvey Gayoso scored his second international goal, giving the Azkals a 1-0 win despite several threatening counter attacks by the Nepalese.

The game also featured the return of Stephan Schrock, who unretired after six months.

The Nepalese squad looked particularly dangerous in the counter attacks in the first few minutes even as the Azkals tried to look comfortable at home.

The nationals started pressing the action in the 30th minute when they produced a couple of good plays and got close to scoring a goal.

Five minutes later, Carli De Murga worked his way up and fired a screamer that barely missed the goal.

The Azkals then lost Patrick Reichelt who figured in an accidental clash of heads with Nepal’s Bimal Pandey in the 41st minute.

This forced coach Hans Weiss to field in Gayoso who launched an aggressive run in the 45th minute. His curling effort, however, went directly to Nepalese keeper Kiran Limbu.

The Nepalese emerged with a pressing attack in the opening of the second half but the Azkals were able to reverse the situation.

From a throw in, the Azkals went on a mad scramble which saw a fallen Gayoso flick the ball to the back of the net in the 49th minute to give the Philippines a state of the lead.

Although being constantly being threatened by counter attacks, the Filipinos managed to keep the ball on their side of the pitch.

In the 67th minute, Mike Ott and Sandro Reyes nearly increased their lead a couple of times.

Schrock formally ended his retirement to the crowd’s delight, getting into the action in the 70th minute.

Nepal tried hard to attempt an equalizer, but the Azkals’ defense managed to hold on.

It was a fresh start for the Azkals, who went on a winless spell before the return of Weiss as their head coach.

"I can see all the players they matured a lot. Unfortunately now they are not yet in the best of condition but the defense is really there and I’m very positive for the future," said Weiss after their victory.

"These games against Nepal and Chinese Taipei will open our eyes on what is needed in these positions where we need to step up."

Weiss also credited keeper Patrick Deyto for maintaining a clean sheet against Nepal. Deyto manned the post for Neil Etheridge, who sat out the game.
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“I want to thank Patrick for his performance. I was critical during the game and in the run-up in the game. This is who I am… He saved us in the game,” said the German coach.

All in all, the Philippines enjoyed 70 percent of ball possession over Nepal. Nine of the Azkals' shots were on target despite getting roughened up by the Nepalese, who incurred 11 fouls.