BACK ON TOP. Ceres-Negros assistant coach Ronald Ian Treyes (right) and Bienvenido Marañon during the post-match interview Wednesday night (May 23, 2018) at Panaad Stadium in Bacolod City. Ceres-Negros regained the top spot in the Philippines Football League rankings after dominating Davao Aguilas, 3-0 at the Panaad Stadium in Bacolod City. (Photo by Nanette L. Guadalquiver)
BACOLOD CITY -- Ceres-Negros regained the top spot in the Philippines Football League (PFL) rankings after beating Davao Aguilas, 3-0 at the Panaad Stadium here Wednesday night.
The home team bounced back from last week’s defeat to Kaya FC-Iloilo after OJ Porteria scored on the 44th via a penalty awarded to Ceres after Bienvenido Marañon was fouled inside the box.
Marañon completed Ceres’ dominance with a brace in the second half and was named man of the match.
Ceres-Negros assistant coach Ronald Ian Treyes said he is hopeful they could sustain the lead by further improving their games and utilizing the rest of the squad.
“I hope the players who played tonight can recover for our next game on the (26th). We are traveling to Manila tomorrow (Thursday),” he added.
Treyes said that during halftime, the players themselves challenged each other to play better and harder.
“Guys, we don’t have to give this game to Davao. We worked hard for this. Everyone challenged each other to play better, play harder. We’re leading 1-0 at that time on penalty, and each one was more eager to win,” he shared.
“Then as you have seen (in the second half), the attacks came and Bienve’s touch was there again,” Treyes said.
Marañon said he’s happy that Ceres is back in the lead after a difficult past week playing and winning against Yangon United in the ASEAN Zonal semifinals of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup and losing to Kaya-Iloilo FC before that.
“We showed them how we play here in Panaad,” Marañon said. “This team is amazing. They work hard all the time. It was a hard time for us a week ago, but we came back strong.”
Davao Aguilas head coach Marlon Maro said they have quality players, but unlike Ceres they were not able to convert the opportunities into goals.
“I don’t think the first goal was an error, it was the referee’s judgment call that turned the game around. But before that we had a good opportunity to score,” he added.
Aguilas is headlined by Philippine Azkals veterans, brothers Phil and James Younghusband.
After playing seven games with one loss, Ceres-Negros, the reigning PFL champions, returned to the top with 18 points while Kaya-Iloilo dropped to the second spot with 16 points after losing to Global Cebu on Wednesday afternoon. Davao remained at number three with 14 points. (PNA)
