In arguably their biggest game in club history, Ceres-Negros Football Club fought with utmost valiance but the win proved to be a mountain too high for the Busmen.
French forward Anthony Modeste scored twice to propel Tianjin Quanjian to a 2-0 victory over Ceres in the 2018 AFC Champions League play-off round. With the win at the Haihe Educational Football Stadium in Tianjin, China, Paulo Sousa’s wards book a ticket for the continental competition’s group stages.
Unsurprisingly, the Chinese Super League side almost opened the scoring in the early stages of the game. French forward Anthony Modeste was through on goal and was denied by Ceres goalie Toni Doblas, who rushed out immediately to clear the danger.
Fair play to Ceres, though, as the Busmen showed no signs of being awestruck by their more illustrious counterparts. The Bacolod club played with patience and confidence in possession. A fine passage of play allowed Stephan Schrock to try his luck, and his attempt was swatted away by Tianjin goalie Zhang Lu.
Schrock’s attempt was the best chance Ceres had in the opening period, as Tianjin began to intensify their play soon afterwards. Doblas made a routine stop to deny Belgian midfielder Axel Witsel’s longshot. The resulting corner, however, yielded a goal, as Modeste’s header proved unstoppable in the 19th minute.
Ceres went into halftime a goal down, which by all circumstances was a decent result at the break considering the club had arrived in Tianjin roughly 11 hours before kickoff and had to adjust to the chilly weather conditions.
Risto Vidakovic’s men started positively upon the game’s resumption, and missed a great chance when Zhang Lu failed to intercept the ball from a Busmen set-piece. That glaring miss came to haunt Ceres in the 57th minute when a good pass from Pato finely setup Modeste, who calmly shot past Doblas.
The Busmen persevered to get a goal back and change the game’s complexion, yet for all their huffing and puffing, Zhang Lu was hardly tested throughout the contest. At the other end, Pato eluded a rushing Doblas and was through on goal, but the Brazilian only hit the side-netting.
Ultimately, Tianjin prevailed 2-0 to seal progress into the group stages. On the other hand, Ceres shall now compete in the 2018 AFC Cup group stages, where the Busmen will be one of the favorites in the ASEAN zone.
Ceres Negros XI: Doblas (GK), Herrera, Mi. Ott, Ingreso, Maranon, Porteria, Schrock, De Murga ©, Munoz, Nazari, Christiaens.
Tianjin Quanjian XI: Zhang Lu (GK, C), Liu Yiming, Zho Xuri, Pato, Zhang Cheng, Kwon Kyunwong, Mi Haolun, Modeste, Witsel, Sun Ke & Wang Yongpo.
