MANILA – Ceres-Negros F.C. fell short of an Asian Football Confederations (AFC) Champion’s League berth after a 2-0 overpowering at the hands of F.C. Tokyo on Tuesday night at the Ajinomoto Stadium in Tokyo, Japan.
With the defeat, the Negros Occidental-based football club will continue their continental campaign in Group G of the AFC Cup with Than Quang Ning of Vietnam and Indonesian champions Bali United.
Ceres-Negros was heavily considered as underdogs heading into kickoff. Sans their captain Stephan Schröck who served a suspension, they still managed to hold off most of the Japs shooting attempts behind crucial stops from goalkeeper Roland Muller.
However, the gutsy stand of Ceres was foiled just three minutes into the second half as F.C Tokyo’s defender Sei Muroya’s attempt on goal went past the hands of Muller to give the home team a 1-0 edge.
Ceres were able to get the break they needed after the Japanese football club went down to 10 men when their forward Taichi Hara got slapped with a straight red card for elbowing Ceres midfielder Takeshi Odawara in the 79th minute.
Unfortunately, no effect was granted by the advantage after Manuel Herrera and Robert Lopez Mendy missed their strikes, while Tokyo’s Adailton scored late in the 89th minute to seal the victory for the Japs.
For winning the knockout match, F.C. Tokyo earned the final spot in Group F of the AFC Champions League alongside South Korea’s Ulsan Hyundai, China’s Shanghai Shenhua, and Australia’s Perth Glory./PN
