MANILA – Ceres Negros rallied from a two-goal deficit to beat Stallion Laguna 3-2 in the 2018 Philippines Football League at the Biñan Football Stadium in Laguna.
Bienvenido Marañon fired two goals while Stephan Schrock added another one on Saturday for the defending champion to solidify its hold of the top spot – 21 points on seven wins and one loss.
Ilonggo Jan Jesus Melliza shot well from outside of the box in the ninth minute for Stallion to draw first blood. Marañon had a chance to tie the scores minutes later but his shot hit the crossbar.
After consecutive misses from Ceres, Stallion managed to widen its advantage just before halftime break as Melliza beat Ceres goalkeeper Toni Doblas for an easy hit.
Stallion nearly scored another one early in the second half but Nathaniel Alquiros failed to take advantage. Ceres trimmed the deficit as Schrock converted a header from a pass by Manny Ott.
Marañon was able to tie the scores 2-all as he drained a nice feed by Schrock. The Spanish striker then converted the go-ahead goal via penalty kick after a foul by Reynald Villareal.
“We’re so happy that we came from behind and won,” said Ceres assistant coach Ian Treyes. “We’re lucky also that, with the intensity and how the game went, nobody suffered a serious injury.”
After the game, Stallion was stuck on fourth place with 9 points on four wins and four losses. The two teams will face each other again on Wednesday at the same venue./PN
