Ceres-Negros Football Club may be short on preparation. But it managed to hold its ground to edge Myanmar National League rival Shan United, 3-2.
Around 3,704 fans watched as the Busmen advanced to the second preliminary round of the East Region playoffs in the Asian Football Confederation Champions League at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium late Tuesday night.
This put the Busmen against the Port Club of Thailand in an away encounter on Jan. 21 in Bangkok.
“We only had three days of preparations. They played well in the first half and the opposing team tried to match our intensity in the second half. And I'm happy at how we played in the first 15 minutes of the second half,” said Busmen coach Risto Vidaković
The Busmen attacked early and took a 2-0 lead in the first half behind goals from forwards Robert Lopez Mendy and Bienvenido Maranon.
This was after Mendy connected in the first five minutes of play with a left footer before Maranon sent in OJ Porteria’s cross at the 40th minute.
The Busmen continued putting on the pressure until the 20th minute of the second half, and that's when their Burmese rivals went on the offensive.
Zin Min Tun sent in a header on the 73rd minute, allowing Shan United to move within range, 1-2.
A close-range attack from Porteria, who slotted a goal on the 79th minute kept the Busmen ahead, 3-1.
The Burmese side refused to give up, with Maximin Djawa breaking past the Busmen's defensive line with three minutes from fulltime.