By Paulo Loreto Lim

Ceres-Negros FC drew 2-2 with JPV Marikina FC in their Philippines Football League (PFL) match yesterday at the Binan Football Stadium in Laguna.

Ceres Forward Patrick Reichelt opened scoring with a goal in the 27th minute; however, it was quickly canceled out by a strike from JPV defender Kouichi Belgira.

Midfielder Bienvenido Marañón would later put Ceres up 2-1 with a goal in the 36th minute.

Just before halftime, JPV midfielder John Celiz was shown a straight red card and was ejected from the match.

The two clubs would soon both be down to 10 after a collision between Marañón and JPV defender Camelo Tacusalme resulted in the Ceres midfielder being stretchered off the pitch.

A few minutes later, JPV managed to score an equalizer in the 68th minute through midfielder Ali Mahmoud.

The draw moved the Negrense club one point closer to league leaders FC Meralco Manila on the PFL table, now just two points apart.

Ceres still has two league games in hand compared to the Manila-based club, along with another face-off scheduled between the two leading clubs later this month.

Meanwhile, according to reports, after being taken out of the match, Marañón was sent to the hospital for tests. During the pre-match press conference, Ceres coach Risto Vidaković noted other key players, namely Stephan Schröck, Martin Steuble, and Manuel Ott, were currently on the injured list for an indeterminate amount of time./PLL, WDJ