The Philippine Azkals dodged a bullet Thursday night in their international friendly as they survived a gritty challenge posed by Fiji at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.

After scoring 3 goals, the nationals found themselves in the defensive with Fiji mounting a rally late in the second half.

Phil Younghusband, Hikaru Minegishi and Kevin Ingresso each scored a goal for the nationals, who are preparing for their final 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualifier against Tajikistan on Tuesday.

The 115th-ranked Pinoys initially took advantage of Fiji's weak backline which slung low near the visitors' goal in the first half.

Younghusband struck his 49th international goal in the 29th minute by converting a penalty kick for the Philippines.

It was Minegishi's turn to do damage for the Philippine side by scoring in the 51st minute to double the Azkals' lead.

In the 61st minute, Ingresso fired a volley as a follow-up to Misagh Bahadoran's failed header to give the Philippines a dominant 3-0 advantage.

But the 168th-ranked Fijians refused to go away quietly, picking up the ante midway the second half.

Ame Votoniu scored a breakthrough for Fiji by capitalizing on Nick O'Donnel's error in the 74th to give the visitors their first goal.

The threat became more evident for the Azkals when Roy Krishna scored on a penalty to pull Fiji to within 3-2 in the 80th minute.

Fiji then became more urgent in their attacks as the final minutes were ticking away.

Fortunately, O'Donnel and the rest of the defense were able to survive successive corners by the Fijians to preserve a 3-2 victory.

The Azkals will next face Tajikistan this coming Tuesday.

A win over the Tajiks will send the Azkals to a historic first appearance in the AFC Asian Cup.

(For more sports coverage, visit the ABS-CBN Sports website.)