SPANISH striker Bienvenido Marañon came up with a rousing debut as Ceres-La Salle dealt Loyola Meralco a painful 6-1 pummeling Saturday night to widen its lead in the United Football League at Rizal Memorial Stadium.
Linking up brilliantly with his new teammates, the fleet-footed Marañon, who played in the second tier in Spain, delivered a hat trick to highlight Ceres’ dominant performance.
“The players followed the gameplan and we saw that Marañon is really a good fit for our team,” said Ceres coach Ali Go, who didn’t even see the need to field leading scorer Adrian Gallardo.
Earlier, Green Archers United improved to 14 points after prevailing in a goalfest with Pachanga, 9-5.
Patrick Reichelt struck twice while substitute Jeff Christiaens also scored for Ceres, which extended its lead to six points after raising its tally to 27.
The loss proved to be a heavy blow to the Sparks who remained at 19 points.
Missing Phil Younghusband and Anthony Schnell due to suspension, the Sparks looked primed for an upset after new signing Brad Grayson finished off a fine counterattack in the 18th minute.
But the Bacolod side equalized five minutes later with Marañon releasing Reichelt at midfield before producing a composed finish past Tomas Trigo.
Marañon rifled home from the penalty spot after Simon Greatwich handled the ball inside the area to put Ceres on top in the 28th minute before scoring again just before halftime.
Reichelt made it 4-1 off a Paul Mulders assist before Marañon got his hat trick off a low cross from Reichelt.