IT WAS a Valentine’s Day to remember for Ceres-La Salle and one that Nomads would rather forget.
Ceres unleashed the full weight of its attack on Nomads in a 15-0 demolition Sunday night in the United Football League Cup at Rizal Stadium.
Midfielder Martin Steuble and Lee Jeong-woo registered hat tricks while Stephan Schrock was also on target with two goals as the Bacolod side vaulted to the top of Group B, ahead of Global on goal difference.
It was the most lopsided win recorded by Ceres since joining the second division of the UFL two seasons ago.
The depth and quality of the Ceres lineup was on full display with Spanish standouts Bienvenido Marañon and Adrian Gallardo, as well as Carlie de Murga, Nate Burkey and Patrick Reichelt also finding the back of the net.
“It’s a convincing win but we’re still finding ways to improve,” said Ceres coach Ali Go. “We have some important games coming up, especially in the AFC Cup, so it’s crucial that the players get used to playing with each other.”
Gallardo opened the scoring in the third minute, directing a Kevin Ingreso cutback to the bottom corner. But the worst was yet to come for Nomads as Marañon’s header in the 22nd set off an eight-goal spree in 20 minutes.
In other matches, Stallion regained the Group A lead with a 4-0 rout of Agila, while reigning champion Kaya overwhelmed Laos, 6-1.
Christian Nana fired a brilliant individual effort in the 33rd minute to give Stallion the lead, but it took the 2013 UFL Cup champions until the 85th to double their advantage through Korean midfielder Park Bo-bae.
Jay Soberano scored his first goal for Stallion a minute from time, before Jordan Mintah, the hero in the 1-0 win over Kaya last week, wrapped up the victory with a close-range strike in the second minute of injury time.
Also preparing for the AFC Cup, Kaya posted a comfortable victory that saw new signing Robert Lopez Mendy and Joven Bedic scoring two goals each. Aly Borromeo and Dominic del Rosario also scored for Kaya, which took the lead on Mendy’s glancing header in the 16th minute.
Aaron Altiche equalized for Laos in the 21st minute, but Kaya scored five unanswered goals to pick up maximum points after dropping its first game to Stallion, 0-1, last Feb. 7.