By Nanette Guadalquiver/PNA
BACOLOD CITY — OJ Porteria scored twice while Bienvenido Marañon converted a penalty to lift Ceres-Negros to a 3-2 triumph against Shan United in their AFC Cup 2019 opening match on Tuesday night.
The win in front of some 5,700 fans at the Panaad Stadium here gave the Filipino club three points, to take the top spot in Group G after the earlier face-off between Persija Jakarta of Indonesia and Becamex Binh Duong of Vietnam ended in a scoreless draw.
Porteria hit the back of the net 19 minutes into the game. Marañon’s spot kick in the 37th then gave the Busmen a 2-0 lead at half time.
The Burmese side fought back with Zin Min Thun’s goal in the 51st minute, and another by Dway Ko Ko Chit in the 88th, only a minute after Porteria scored his second goal.
“We controlled the game very well. We kept the ball, we (had) a lot of chances. The two goals that we conceded were lapses. That’s something we have to improve on in the next game,” said Porteria, who was named “Man of the Match”, during the post-match press conference.
He added that after losing to Myanmar’s Yangon United in the preliminary qualifiers of the AFC Champions League last February 5, the Busmen were raring to bounce back.
“We had a game here three weeks ago that we lost and it really hurt us. Our preparation before this match was to come out hard, play hard to win the game. I’m very proud of the boys for giving their all,” Porteria said.
Ceres-Negros head coach Risto Vidakovic, however, believed the team could have played better.
“We controlled the first half. In the second half, I don’t know what happened, maybe we relaxed. It’s not normal to concede two goals that easily. We have to be more serious. For a team like us, we cannot concede two goals. We have to think about that in the next game,” the Serbian mentor said.
Shan United head coach Min Thu said that despite losing anew to the hosts, he was satisfied with the performance of his team.
“We lost the match but we scored two goals. It was a very good game. I’m satisfied with the perfomance of our players,” he added.
Shan United will face Ceres-Negros at their home turf at the Thuwunna Stadium in Yangon on May 1.
On March 12, Ceres-Negros will play against Vietnam’s Becamex Binh Duong at Binh Duong Stadium in Thu Dao Mut City.
