Heartbreak for Ceres Negros after AFC Champions League exit

Ceres Negros out of the AFC Champions League. Photo from the-afc.com.

BACOLOD CITY – Filipino club Ceres Negros absorbed a stunning preliminary stage exit in the AFC Champions League, after a 2-1 defeat to Yangon United of Myanmar last Tuesday night at Panaad Stadium.

Kaung Htet Soe’s 58th minute strike proved to be the difference between the two sides as the Myanmar National League champions advanced to the second round opposite Chiangrai United of Thailand.

Brazilian midfielder Vinicius Miller put the visitors in front in the 27th minute with a free kick at the edge of the area, but the Busmen struck back through Stephan Schrock just before halftime.

Schrock acrobatically cushioned Martin Steuble’s teasing cross from the right to the bottom corner, beating Yangon goalkeeper Kyaw Zin Htet for the equalizer.

The Busmen chased the game right until the end with OJ Porteria missing a big chance in the 72nd minute when he fired a volley to the crossbar after Kevin Ingreso’s shot was saved by Zin Htet.

Ceres coach Risto Vidakovic had one opportunity in stoppage time, but Bienve Maranon, the club’s top scorer in the AFC Cup the last two seasons, could not get on the end of Schrock’s cross.

The loss relegated the Busmen to the AFC Cup, where they will face Becamex Binh Duong of Vietnam, Persija Jakarta of Indonesia and Shan United of Myanmar.