BACOLOD CITY, Philippines – Ceres-Negros FC fired from all cylinders to score a 9-0 win over Boeung Ket FC in their opening match in Group F of the AFC Cup last February 13 at the Panaad Stadium in Bacolod.
Takumi Uesato, Bienvenido Marañon, and OJ Porteria finished with a brace while Carli De Murga and Manny Ott scored a goal apiece for the Busmen. The visitors also added to the scoresheet via an own goal from Sun Suvannrithy.
Takumi Uesato scored just after 15 minutes of his home debut when he latched on pass from Marañon before turning well to shoot past the rushing keeper. The Spaniard also joined the scoring minutes later when he redirected a Mike Ott header to the back of the net in the 19th.
Ceres-Negros showed great build up in third goal when a lovely setup by the younger Ott allowed Jeffrey Christaens to tee-up the Japanese striker in the second post. A foul on Mike Ott in the box forced the referee to call a penalty which Marañon converted easily for his brace.
Porteria scored the fifth for the home squad just after the hour mark when he curled in a Marañon pass into the far post.
With the advantage secured, Stephan Schrock was taken off as a precautionary measure by Coach Risto Vidakovic minutes before halftime. The midfielder, who was still battling illness for the last few days, was a force in the middle for Ceres in the first half.
Things weren’t going in the way of Boeung Ket in the second half when Suvannrithy headed in a Patrick Reichelt cross from the wing to make it 6-0. De Murga scored his own in the 64th minute after a delightful cross from Manny Ott allowed the skipper to head in the seventh.
The older Ott joined the scoring nine minutes from time after his strike from outside the box took a slight deflection off a Boeung Ket defender for the eight goal. Porteria completed the rout in the 85th minute with another well struck attempt from inside the box.
The win put the Filipino club in the driver seat in Group F followed by Home United who secured an away win earlier against Shan United. Ceres-Negros will face the Singapore representatives for their first away match on February 27 at the Jalan Besar Stadium.
