Ceres nip Stallion for 1st PFL Alcantara victory

Blake Powell of Ceres Negros (left) keeps the ball away from Matthew Nierras of Stallion Laguna during their 2018 Philippines Football League Copa Paulino Alcantara match at the Rizal Memorial Stadium. Ceres made their first win at the expense of Stallion 2-1 on Wednesday, Sept. 19. PFL

MANILA – Ceres Negros kept their hopes alive in the 2018 Philippines Football League Copa Paulino Alcantara with a come-from-behind 2-1 win over Stallion Laguna at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.

Blake Powell and Manny Ott scored a goal each in the second half for the Busmen as they snapped a two-game slide in the tournament and improved to a 1-2 win-loss slate for 3 points.

Ceres turned aggressive early in the Wednesday night game as Ott made a close shot in the 35th minute. Stallion nearly scored via a free kick but Ceres’ goalkeeper Roland Muller deflected it.

Stallion broke the tie in the 39th minute when Fitch Arboleda collected a deflected ball in his path and outrun Ceres’ defense before firing past Muller to take the lead heading to the halftime break.

Ceres became more aggressive in the second half with multiple shots on the goal until the Busmen finally nailed one with Powell shooting from the narrowest of angles to lift the ball past the Stallion keeper for the equalizer.

After multiple misses, Ceres clinched the go-ahead goal with Ott converting from a setup by Curt Dizon and Joshua Dutosme. Stallion attempted to tie the count through Carlo Polli but were unable to penetrate past the defense of Muller.

With the loss, Stallion (1-1, 3 points) dropped to second place in Group A behind Davao Aguilas (1-0, 3 points)./PN

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