The Philippines needed to bag all three points if they were to stay in contention for a place in the semi-finals, but it was Thailand who dominated possession in the opening minutes of the cagey match. 

Thailand had early looks at goal through Theerathon Bunmathan and Supachok Sarachat but it was veteran Teerasil who found the back of the net in the 26th minute, volleying home Theeraton’s cross into the area to become the AFF Cup leading goalscorer. 

Teerasil almost doubled Thailand’s advantage two minutes later, but Kevin Mendoza did well to keep his team in the game heading into the break. 

Scott Cooper’s Philippines started the second half with conviction, and scored the equaliser in the 57th minute when the Thai defence failed to clear the ball and Patrick Reichelt slammed home from close range. 

Their efforts came undone in the 77th minute when Amani Aguinaldo fouled Thitipan Puangchan in the box, and Teerasil stepped up to the spot to cleanly convert the penalty and seal the win for Thailand. 

Thailand will take on Singapore for the battle for top spot in their final group fixture on Saturday, while Philippines and Myanmar will look to close off their campaigns in style. 

Thailand’s win over Philippines in the day’s earlier match meant that Singapore were assured of a top two spot, but that didn’t stop Tatsuma Yoshida’s side from going all out against Timor-Leste. 

SIngapore had the best of starts with Adam Swandi opening the scoring as early as the fourth minute after slotting home a loose ball from close range following a melee in the box. 

Timor-Leste had opportunities of their own, with Paulo Gali and Elias Mesquita testing Singapore goalkeeper Hassan Sunny. 

Singapore finally got their second in the 70th minute when Timor-Leste failed to clear a corner kick, with Shakir Hamzah’s effort deflecting off goalkeeper Junildo Pereira and settling in the back of the net.