Green Archers topple Ceres

SUBSTITUTE Tating Pasilan struck the winner in the second half as Green Archers United scored the biggest upset of the United Football League season by bringing down defending champion Ceres-La Salle, 2-1, last Sunday at Rizal Memorial Stadium.

The two sides began the match with 14 points separating them in the table with Ceres in second with 28 points, but Archers came out sharp and aggressive after a three-week break to hack out just their fifth win in 12 matches.

The loss was a heavy blow for a Ceres side that is already three points behind leader Global, which also has a game in hand.

Archers also spoiled the coaching debut of Serbian Risto Vidakovic, who took over the coaching reins at Ceres late last month. Vidakovic appeared to have instituted a new system of play for Ceres, which hardly created chances against a team the Bacolod side handily defeated, 7-1, last month.

“We know we were not good enough in the first round so we took it upon ourselves to improve our performance,” Pasilan, a pioneer of the club, said in Filipino. “This is just the start. We hope to make an impact in the title race in the second round.”

Archers’ victory capped a day of stunning turnarounds as 10-man Laos fought back from a goal down twice to hold Stallion to a 2-2 stalemate.

Patrik Franksonn scored both goals for Laos in the second half, canceling out Fitch Arboleda’s strike and a Bae Dong Min volley in the 56th minute.