Ceres-Negros FC in dominant start
9-0 romp by Ceres against Boeung Ket underscores it is no longer an underdog
TOP Philippine football club Ceres-Negros FC got its 2018 AFC Cup bid to a dominant start, routing Group F rival Boeung Ket Angkor of Cambodia, 9-0, at the Panaad Stadium in Bacolod on Tuesday night.
Playing under rainy conditions brought about by Tropical Storm Basyang that is currently traversing Southern Philippines, the “Busmen” showed tremendous focus in front of their hometown fans and sent a resounding message to the rest of the competition that it is bent on reasserting its standing as the defending ASEAN Zone winner in Asia’s secondary club football tournament.
The team, however, recognizes that with the romp in its opener, any “underdog” tag it might have enjoyed in last year’s edition is all but gone and that from here on it is “target” for the rest of the field.
Two goals each from forward Takumi Uesato, midfielders Bienvenido Maranon and OJ Porteria proved to be a big lift for Ceres, the inaugural champion of the Philippines Football League.
Defender Carli de Murga and substitute Manny Ott added a goal each for Ceres with an own goal from Boeung Ket defender Sun Sovanrithy completing the shutout for the Philippine-based side.
“[ We’re] not surprised of the outcome. We played an outstanding game as a team and we put a show for the home crowd,” said Ceres midfielder Stephan Schrock in an interview with CNN Philippines immediately after their big victory.
“Every time we enter the game we always aim for the win and that will continue for the rest of the tournament,” he added.
Mr. Schrock further said that after winning the AFC Cup ASEAN Zonal final and their impressive showing in the recent AFC Champions League, they are no longer an underdog in the ongoing tournament.
“We are no longer underdogs in this campaign. Everybody is aware of us and we have to be aware of that and be ready,” he said.
Mr. Uesato started the scoring parade for Ceres against Boeung Ket as he connected from close range in the 15th minute.
Four minutes later, Mr. Maranon struck with a header to give his team an early 2-0 advantage over visiting Boeung Ket.
In the next 10 minutes the duo of Messrs. Uesato and Maranon would conspire for an additional two points to bury their opponents some more, to the delight of the cheering crowd who did not mind the rain pouring at the Panaad Stadium.
Mr. Porteria notched his first goal of the night in the 31st minute with a direct shot from the outside to push Ceres to a commanding 5-0 separation by the halftime break.
Making matters worse for CLeague champion Boeung Ket, in the 58th minute Mr. Sovanrithy mistakenly headed Patrick Reichelt’s cross to their own net to give Ceres a 6-0 advantage.
Despite the game already out of the reach Boeung Ket, Ceres continued to take the fight to it, producing three more goals in the 64th minute (De Murga), 81st (Ott) and 85th (Porteria).
The win gave Ceres the full three points and the team joining Home United FC of Singapore as early winners in Group F.
It is hoping to sustain the momentum of the win and end up on top of the grouping after the series of home-and-away matches to automatically advance to the next round.
Ceres next faces Home United on Feb. 27 in Singapore.