Final chance to finish atop the league on Tuesday against Global Cebu

By Paulo Loreto Lim

Ceres-Negros FC drew 0-0 in their closed-door Philippines Football League (PFL) match against FC Meralco Manila yesterday at the PFF National Training Centre in Carmona, Cavite.

The match, pegged as a battle for the top of the PFL table, opened with a rather slow first half; however, in the 24th minute, Ceres midfielder Bienvenido Marañón was brought down following a rough encounter, which even left Ceres defender Manuel Herrera with ripped shorts.

The first half closed at 0-0.

Into the second half, Marañón was shown a yellow card in the 63rd minute, following a foul on Meralco defender Franco De la Torre.

The midfielder would later be subbed out for striker Patrick Reichelt, who scored a brace in their earlier 5-1 win over Ilocos United FC.

Herrera picked up a yellow card in the 86th minute, which resulted in a long-range free kick opportunity by midfielder Curt Dizon for Meralco. Fortunately for the Negrense side, goalkeeper Roland Müller managed to punch away the initial attempt and put in another save following a subsequent corner kick.

Into added time, Meralco forward David Fornea was shown a straight red card and ejected from the match, which gave Ceres a slight chance to salvage the crucial three points, but there wasn’t enough time.

The result, which was the last league game for Meralco, keeps them atop the PFL table, ahead of Ceres by one point.

The Negrense side, however, has one final match on Tuesday, against Global Cebu FC at the Cebu City Sports Complex. A win would move Ceres to the summit of the league table, while a draw would tie them on points with Meralco, although the former holds a superior goal difference./PLL, WDJ