THE much-hoped-for away victory did not come for Ceres-Negros FC on Wednesday night, leaving it to lose the AFC Cup ASEAN Zonal title and ousted in this edition of the tournament.
Needing to win over Home United FC in Singapore following a 1-1 draw last week in the first leg of their Zonal final in Bacolod City, the erstwhile defending champions “Busmen” instead saw themselves on the raw end of a 2-0 count with the “Protectors” to bow down, 3-1, on aggregate.
Apart from losing the title, the defeat also prevented Ceres from advancing to the next stage of the AFC Cup.
While admitting that the loss was a tough one, the reigning Philippines Football League champion was gracious in defeat, saying Home United was a deserving winner.
“I think Home United deserved the win,” Ceres’ Serbian coach Risto Vidakovic was quoted as saying by the official AFC Cup Web site postmatch.
“We came a bit tired into this game because we didn’t have pre-season, we played many games, [had] many flights and the players are tired. But I think they deserve the win and we (now) have to look forward to next season,” said Mr. Vidakovic.
Ceres had some solid opportunities for a goal early in the match but failed to consummate them en route to a goalless tie by the halftime break.
In the second half, Home United made its move.
It scored in the 62nd minute care of defender Shakir Hamzah.
The Busmen tried hard to get the point back but was hard luck in doing so.
They got buried deeper 12 minutes later when Korean forward Song Ui-young found an opening to puncture his team’s second goal for a commanding 2-0 lead.
Ceres never recovered after that as it slumped to the loss.
Throughout the Zonal final, Ceres missed the services of top scorer Bienvenido Maranon, who was suspended following his sending-off against Yangon United in group play on May 16.
As the Zonal winner, Home United now plays DPR Korea’s 4.25 SC in the Inter-Zone Semifinals later this month. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo
