Philippines Football League champions Ceres Negros FC and Singaporean side Home United settled for a 1-1 draw in the first leg of the AFC Cup ASEAN Zonal Final last Wednesday 1 August 2018 at the Pana-ad Park and Football Stadium in Bacolod, Negros Occidental.
New signing Blake Powell put Ceres on the mark in the 8th minute from the penalty spot after the Australian was taken down in the box by Shakir Hamzah.
The visitors drew level in the 23rd minute. Shahril Ishak’s header hit the cross bar and Isaka Cernak was there to slot the rebound.
Both teams pressed on to find the winning goal, but the match did not figure another goal as it ended at 1-1.
“We did what we can at this moment and we have another 90 minutes (in Singapore) so everything is open,” said head coach Risto Vidakovic after the match. “We need to win there and I think it will be similar to this one. I hope we recover all the players that didn’t play today and we will be stronger.”
The second leg of the AFC Cup Zonal final is on 8 August 2018 at the Jalan Besar Stadium in Singapore. Ceres will advance to the next round with a win over Home United or a high scoring draw.
Photos from Ceres Negros FC