Ceres trims Persija in Bacolod

BACOLOD CITY—Spanish striker Bienve Maranon kept his impressive scoring run to propel Ceres Negros past Persija Jakarta, 1-0, on Wednesday night in the AFC Cup before close to 6,000 fans at Panaad Stadium here.

Maranon got behind the Persija defense to head home a teasing ball from Martin Steuble in the ninth minute as the Busmen opened up a five-point gap at the top of Group G.

The two teams meet again on April 23 in Jakarta, but Ceres midfielder Stephan Schrock stressed the importance of taking maximum points at home against Indonesia’s biggest club.

“It’s a massive win for us, especially considering that we only play every three weeks as our league has not started yet,” said Schrock.

“To stay undefeated at the top of the group is very, very good. What we need to improve on is our match fitness but that’s hard because the league has not started. It’s a big challenge to get match fitness and get 90 minutes of hard competition.”