Ceres falls to 10-man FC Tokyo
By Adrian Stewart Co

Ceres-Negros FC missed another chance at making the AFC Champions League group stage after falling 2-0 to a 10-man FC Tokyo earlier this week at the Ajinomoto Stadium in Tokyo, Japan. The Bacolod City-based club came in as the underdog but were also dealt a blow as midfielder Stephan Schröck was suspended for the match.
After a scoreless first half where Ceres goalkeeper Roland Müller was kept busy, which included denying Tokyo midfielder Adaílton two attempts in the 40th minute, three minutes into the second, the J1 League club got on the board with a goal from defender Sei Muroya.
An opportunity arose for the Negrense side after Tokyo striker Taichi Hara was shown a red card after elbowing Ceres midfielder Takeshi Odawara in the 79th minute; however, the Japanese side went on to double their lead with Adaílton finally making it past Müller just before the end of regulation time.
The result mimics Ceres FC’s last appearance in the playoff round of the AFC Champions League qualifiers when they fell 2-0 to Chinese Super League club Tianjin Quanjian FC in 2018.
With their elimination from the Champions League, the Bacolodnon side will compete in the 2020 AFC Cup, where they are already drawn in Group G alongside Than Quang Ninh, who finished third in Vietnam’s V.League 1, and 2019 Liga 1 winners Bali United.
The fourth spot in the group will be determined by a playoff between Hong Kong’s Kitchee SC, Taiwan Power Company FC, and Ulaanbaatar City FC of Mongolia./ASC, WDJ