Ceres Negros FC overcame a sluggish and difficult start in turning back Bali United of Indonesia, 4-0, on Wednesday evening in a closed-door game of the Asian Football Confederation Cup at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium.
After finding chinks in the Indonesian side’s defense, Ceres finally scored in the 35th minute when OJ Porteria followed up on a saved shot by Stephan Schrock.
“It’s not easy to play them. It’s not easy to control the ball, and gain possession, and control the game. Especially with a team that’s very tight on defense,” said Risto Vidakovic.
After the Busmen finally put enough pressure on the Indonesians, Bienve Maranon came through with a penalty in the 54th minute before sending in a third marker in the 69th minute.
Robert Lopez Mendy finalized Ceres Negros’ victory with a 73rd-minute strike.
With the win, Ceres Negros is now in the solo lead of Group G with their 2-1-0 win-draw-loss record. Than Quảng Ninh is in second at 1-1-1.
Bali remains at the bottom of the group (1-0-2), with Svay Rieng in third (1-0-2).
Action was played behind closed doors as due precautions were taken by organizers because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“It’s always very hard to play when the opponent is defending so deep. The first goal was important to open it,” added Vidakovic.