MANILA – Ceres Negros continued their struggle in the 2018 Philippine Football League Copa Paulino Alcantara after a 0-3 defeat to Stallion Laguna on Saturday at the Biñan Football Stadium in Laguna.
Jan Jesus Melliza fired two goals, while fellow Ilonggo Ruben Doctora added another conversion for Stallion, which tied with Davao Aguilas on top of Group A with 3 points.
Stallion were aggressive early in the match with attempts from Melliza, Nathaniel Alquiros and Terrence Linatoc but Ceres’ goalkeeper Roland Muller was there to deflect their tries.
After a few more misses, Stallion finally surged ahead in the 24th minute as Doctora rebounded on a missed attempt by Carlo Polli to bury the shot in the bottom corner.
Ceres’ struggles continued as they surrendered another goal at the 41st minute –Yannick Tuazon broke the trap and passed the ball forward to Melliza for a close range shot.
The lead grew further for Stallion early in the second half as Fitch Arboleda laid the ball on for Melliza, who easily evaded Muller’s defense for his second goal.
“We made many mistakes that cost us the game,” said Ceres assistant coach Ian Treyes.
Ceres – back-to-back PFL champions – suffered their second consecutive defeat in as many matches and put their chances for the semifinals in peril./PN
