Philippine club United City FC suffered its third straight loss on Monday night after taking a 2-nil beating at the hands of reigning J1 champion Kawasaki Frontale, in the 2021 AFC Champions League at the Lokomotiv Stadium in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
United City lost to the Kawasaki side for the second consecutive time in Group I, but was a relatively better result than the 8-0 defeat last Friday.
Kei Shinen took advantage of a United City miscue at the back to score in the 18th minute, and a close range shot by Tatsuya Hasegawa in the 78th brought the lead to two goals for the Japanese side.
United City goalkeeper Anthony Pinthus though made a good account of himself with several saves to prevent another lopsided result for the Filipino team.
UCFC coach Jason Withe was a bit disappointed with the result of the match, but was glad that several players were also able to play. The team didn’t field top striker Bienve Maranon, while missing Stephan Schrock due to accumulated yellow cards.
United City FC faces Beijing FC
“We made a lot of changes today. I said to the squad, it’s not about 11 players,” said Withe.
On Thursday, United City will face Beijing FC. Their previous match-up saw both teams ending with a 1-1 draw.
