By Nanette Guadalquiver | PNA
BACOLOD CITY — A ninth minute header by Bienvenido Marañon gave the Philippines’ Ceres-Negros a 1-0 victory against Persija Jakarta, extending its winning streak to three games in Group G of the AFC Cup 2019 on Wednesday night.
After three wins, Ceres-Negros, the 2018 ASEAN Zone runner-up, secured nine points to stay ahead of the pack. Indonesian league champions Persija Jakarta and Vietnam’s Becamex Binh Duong have four points each.
“I’m very proud of the work of the players…Our goal is to continue, to keep the team at the top. It is not done yet, but we are on the right way to reach once more the next round,” head coach Risto Vidakovic said after the match at the Panaad Park and Stadium here.
“For now, we have to enjoy this victory first and take a rest and prepare well for the next game,” he added.
Forward Stephan Schrock, the “Man of the Match”, said the result was a “big win” for Ceres-Negros given the challenge for the players to stay in good shape in between matches.
“The most important part is, we won. It’s not really easy to be in top condition if you play only every 18 days or every 20 days. The AFC Cup is a very tough challenge. We try to keep the Philippine flag up high, especially for Negros. We’re very happy we have nine points, so far,” the Fil-German standout said.
Meanwhile, Persija Jakarta head coach Ivan Venkov Kolev said both teams were aggressive and quick, and it was unfortunate, they were not able to convert the scoring opportunities.
“Ceres is a very good team. We must work very hard in the second game. I hope in the next game our performance will be better,” the Bulgarian mentor added.
Vidakovic said the Busmen are looking forward to replicate their Wednesday night performance during their away match in Indonesia.
“We believe in us, we believe in the team. We proved it already many times, playing in very difficult stadiums against very competitive opponents, against big teams before big crowds,” he said.
Ceres-Negros will face Persija Jakarta at the 77,000-seat Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Central Jakarta at 4:30 p.m. on April 23
