Philippines Football League side Ceres-Negros has relied on results at home for majority of its campaign in the AFC Cup.
It won’t be any different in the Asean zonal finals, where the Busmen will try to turn their fortunes around at Panaad Stadium, which they hope will transform into a fortress on Wednesday.
The Busmen conceded a late goal to Singapore international Harris Harun and yielded to S-League side Home United, 1-2, in the first leg of the zonal finals at Jalan Besar Stadium Wednesday night.
Croatian striker Stipe Plazibat scored from the spot in the 11th minute after a controversial foul inside the box called on Ceres defender Carlie de Murga.
The Busmen were also on the wrong end of a couple of disallowed goals with the first one coming in the 28th minute when Kevin Ingreso beat Hassan Sunny with a superb free kick. But De Murga, who was in an offside position when the ball was delivered into the area, made a play on the ball, prompting the referee to raise his flag.
Another disallowed goal came four minutes later, this time with Fernando Rodriguez bundling home a cross from Iain Ramsay. But the flag was up once again with officials insisting Ramsay was marginally offside when the ball from Stephan Schrock was released to him.
The Busmen shrugged off the two calls at the stroke of halftime when Martin Steuble grabbed a vital away goal after his long-range strike beat Sunny.
Still, the Singaporeans grabbed a slender lead heading into the second leg after Harris headed home at the far post with six minutes remaining.
“It’s frustrating not to come away with the win, but we’re confident knowing that we will be playing at home next week and will have our fans behind us,” said midfielder Iain Ramsay.
Ceres coach Risto Vidakovic said his side played below expectations in the opening leg. “It was our worst game in the last six months,” he said.