MANILA – Ceres Negros moved closer to a return trip to the ASEAN zonal finals with a 4-2 win over Yangon United of Myanmar in the first leg of the 2018 AFC Cup zonal semifinals on Wednesday night at the Panaad Park and Stadium in Bacolod City.
Spanish striker Bienvenido Marañon fire two first half goals while Patrick Reichelt and Manuel Herrera added a conversion each for the Busmen.
Sekou Sylla had two goals for Yangon.
With a two-goal advantage heading into the second leg in Yangon, Myanmar next Wednesday, the Busmen looked poised to return to the zonal finals for the second straight year.
“They are a strong team and that is why we prepared hard for this match,” said Ceres Negros head coach Risto Vidaković. “The good crowd at Panaad fueled us to play harder.”
Marañon opened the scoring for Ceres Negros by converting a nice feed by Manny Ott in the 29th minute.
The lead was doubled four minutes later with Reichelt firing from close range.
Marañon increased Ceres Negros’ advantage just before the halftime break. He tapped the ball from the far post. Yangon managed to pull one back early in the second half with a top corner hit by Sylla.
Herrera increased Ceres Negros’ lead back to three points midway in the second half on a header.
Sylla cut the deficit down to two anew minutes later with a close range shot.
The two away goals by Yangon United came in handy when the series shifted to their home court. A 2-0 victory in the second leg will propel them to the next round of the competition./PN
