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BY ADRIAN STEWART CO
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Friday, June 2, 2017
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MANILA – Ceres-Negros made a historic leap to the 2017 AFC Cup ASEAN zonal finals with a 2-1 stunner over Johor Darul Ta’zim of Malaysia in the second leg of the semifinals Wednesday night at the Panaad Park and Stadium in Bacolod City.
The club finished the two-leg zonal semis with an aggregate score of 4-4, including two precious away goals in the first leg, to become the first Philippine-based squad to reach the ASEAN zonal finals.
Both teams had a slow start until Ceres-Negros broke the ice with a conversion from Kota Kawase from a missed free kick by Kevin Ingreso. Johor Darul Ta’zim countered in the second half with a hit from Gabriel Guerra to tie the score, 1-1.
Malaysia seemed headed for an aggregate victory but Fernando Rodriguez pushed Ceres-Negros ahead with a penalty kick in the injury time.
Unable to accept the near defeat, Johor Darul Ta’zim goalkeeper Farzial Marlias went berserk and attacked referee Fu Ming after Rodriguez’s conversion. Marlias was sent off with a straight red card.
“It’s not easy to control emotions, especially if you need to win,” said Ceres-Negros head coach Risto Vidakovic. “We played a very good first half. In the second half we didn’t play so well. But after 180 minutes, I think we deserve to qualify to the finals.”
The Negros Occidental-based team will next face Singapore’s Home United, which reached the finals by beating Global, 5-4. They will play a two-leg final.
The ASEAN zonal winner will move on to the inter-zone semifinals where they will be drawn against teams from central, south and east Asia./PN
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