Where would Ceres-La Salle be in the AFC Cup without Adrian Gallardo’s goals? Once again, the Spaniard came to the rescue for the Busmen, who had been on the brink of first loss in the tournament this season.
As a result, the 2015 UFL champions had been able to come away with a valuable 1-1 stalemate against the Group E leaders, Tampines Rovers, on Tuesday night at the Jalan Besar Stadium in Singapore. Gallardo’s late strike cancelled out Hafiz Sujad’s opening goal midway through the second half.
In a game between the group’s top two teams, it was not surprising to see a cagey affair taking place. Chances were few and far in between in the first half, as both teams struggled to build up plays in the attacking third. There were some half chances from the likes of Paul Mulders and Manny Ott early on for Ceres, but their efforts didn’t really call Tampines goalkeeper Izwan Mahbud into action. Similarly, Ismadi Mukhtar’s shot from a Jermaine Pennant cross was too high inside the first 10 minutes of the game.
The first good attempt to break the deadlock came 17 minutes into the game. Hafiz found himself with the ball inside the box but his shot was blocked by Yong Chan Son. Action was back-and-forth, with the next opportunity to score going to Ceres-La Salle. At the 22nd minute, Gallardo was invited to shoot from long range as he was left with plenty of room outside the box, but the Spanish striker struck it way off the mark. A few moments after that, Ceres goalie Louie Casas made the first save of the night.
The former Filipino international got his gloves on a mighty shot fired by Jermaine Pennant which looked destined to go into the bottom corner. Casas was on high alert, though he went on to have an idle first half after that. Approaching halftime, it was his team that looked more aggressive in front of goal.
Seven minutes before the break, Patrick Reichelt was able to meet a looping ball sent in by Ott. Considering the surging run he made into the box, Reichelt disappointingly put little power into his header, which was saved routinely by Izwan. At the 43rd minute, Ceres-La Salle had the Tampines goalkeeper on his toes again, as Gallardo went past Ismadi before steering his shot into the side netting.
Like his counterpart, the Singaporean goalkeeper hadn’t really had a busy first half, but it may have been a bad one for him had the visitors made something out of a dangerous scramble at the goal mouth in first half added time. Thankfully for him, teammate Noh Raman cleared the ball off the line and at the same time put the ball close enough for Izwan to collect.
While the game still looked dry in the second half, chances were getting better for both squads. Four minutes into the half, Gallardo teed up Bienvenido Marañon inside the box, but his fellow Spaniard failed to hit the target. As was the theme of the match, the visiting team had to deal with another attacking barrage after coming up with their own. In the 52nd minute, Hafiz delivered a neat cross towards Billy Mehmet, who was denied by Casas from close range.
As the game went on, both teams played more adventurously in search of a breakthrough. Afiq Yunos came close to breaking the deadlock in the 67th minute. The defender sliced a wonderful daisy cutter of a shot after winning the ball from Martin Steuble just outside of the Ceres box. However, Casas was there to keep the ball from going in. The Singaporean team looked assertive at that point and they were not made to wait long for a reward after that.
Hafiz supplied the goal that separated the two teams at the 69th minute, tucking home the cross whipped in by Jordan Webb. It prompted urgency from the Filipinos, who were eager to avoid a dampening loss away from home. The visitors took control after falling behind and were nearly brought level by substitute Marwin Angeles. The midfielder weaved past the Tampines defense but he only managed to hit his attempt straight to Izwan. In the end, the Busmen from Bacolod produced an equalizer courtesy of Gallardo. Steuble dipped the ball into the Tampines box which was then headed down by Patrick Reichelt. At the right place at the right time, Gallardo smashed the ball into the bottom corner to make sure that they would not go home empty-handed.
In doing so, Gallardo scored his fourth goal in the tournament. More importantly, they avoided going further behind the Tampines Rovers, who remain two points in front of them in Group E. Frank Muescan’s lads will have the opportunity to overtake them when they meet again next month in Bacolod.
As it stands, the team from Negros are a point ahead of third-placed Selangor, who were also in action tonight. The Malaysian team defeated Lt. Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club, 4-3, to keep pace with the Philippine champions.
