Ceres Negros FC secured a narrow 1-0 victory over Persija Jakarta on Wednesday evening at the Pana-ad Stadium in Bacolod City, maintaining their position at the top of Group G in the 2019 AFC Cup. Bienvenido Marañon netted the only goal of the match with a precise header in the ninth minute, marking the Busmen’s third consecutive triumph in the tournament, thereby accumulating nine points.
In a post-match interview with the AFC’s official website, Ceres midfielder Stephan Schrock expressed the significance of the victory, particularly as the Philippine Premier League has not yet commenced. He stated, “It was a massive, massive win for us, especially considering that we only play every three weeks as our league hasn’t started yet. To stay undefeated at the top of the group is very, very good. What we need to improve is our match fitness but that’s hard because the league hasn’t started yet. It’s also difficult to arrange friendly matches in the Philippines, so it poses a substantial challenge for us to achieve the necessary match fitness and prepare for ninety minutes of rigorous competition.”
Looking ahead to matchday four, Ceres will face Persija Jakarta in an away game at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta on April 23. Meanwhile, Kaya FC-Iloilo will be competing against PSM Makassar on April 17 at the same Pana-ad Stadium in Bacolod City.
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