MANILA — Ceres Negros successfully defended its Philippine Football League title after mauling Global Cebu, 6-1, at the Rizal Memorial Stadium on Wednesday night.
Only needing a draw to clinch title with three matches to spare, Negros went for the exclamation point with its second straight rout of Cebu in five nights at the said venue.
Bienve Marañon opened the account for Negros with a 20th minute left-footed goal.
Mike Ott and Omid Nazari then joined the frame with their 36th and 39th minute goals as Negros entered halftime 3-0 ahead.
Marvin Angeles pulled one back for Cebu in the 48th minute as the club contained Negros for the early goings of the second half.
However, Marañon ended Negros’ dry spell with a 70th minute goal to go 4-1 up.
Blake Powell added another in the 75th minute, and Marañon completed his hat trick with an 88th minute goal.
Negros moved up to 54 points after 21 matches, enough to beat Iloilo, which can only go a maximum of 51 points assuming it wins all of its remaining six matches.
Cebu remains in last place with five points after 14 matches, excluding those that the club opted to beg off from playing recently.
Davao 3, Marikina 0
In Carmona, Davao solidified its hold of the third place in the league table after downing JPV Marikina, 3-0.
In the match originally scheduled on Sunday but was reset to Wednesday due to stormy weather, Davao held off Marikina’s early run and pounded its opponent the rest of the way to go four points clear of Laguna for the third spot.
Kim Sung-Min scored the lone goal of the first half in the 13th minute for Davao.
However, Phil Younghusband and Paolo Salenga sealed the win with goals in the 54th and the 63rd minutes respectively.
Davao now has 28 points after 20 matches, four points ahead of Laguna in the table ahead of their showdown at the Biñan Football Stadium in Biñan on Saturday. Davao is now within five points of Iloilo for second place too.
Marikina remains in fifth place with 14 points after 19 games. (Ivan Stewart Saldajeno/PNA)
