By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Despite the absence of the Filipino fans in their home pitch due to the COVID-19 issue, the Ceres-Negros FC still managed to earn a drubbing win against Bali United, 4-0, in the 2020 AFC Cup.
The busmen were off to the races as soon as the whistle was blown as they ran-off the Bali United defense numerous times and had clean attempts in the first 15 minutes of the match.
However, things went rough for Ceres after key players Manny Ott and Pika Minegishi were slapped with yellow cards during the 20th and the 24th minute, respectively.
Bali United looked to capitalize on Ceres’ momentary lapse but the Negros-based squad looked hungrier as they came out fiery hot to end the first half, drawing first blood courtesy of OJ Porteria to give Ceres a 1-0 lead.
The second half was a scoring party for the busmen as they added three more goals to secure the top-seed in Group G with 7 points, 2 wins, and 1 draw.
Ceres’ main gunner Bienvenido Marañon joined the offensive outburst as he cashed in another goal in the 54th minute to bring the lead to 2-0.
Things went worse for Bali as Marañon caught a sweet pass from Stephan Shrock to deliver another goal for the busmen, 3-0.
Robert Mendy Lopez then sealed the convincing victory in the 73rd minute with an astonishing finish to pay off Stephan Shrock’s cross pass.
