Ceres blanks Chinese Taipei to inch closer to history

BACOLOD, Philippines -- Azkals mainstays Patrick Reichelt and Juani Guirado reprised their heroic roles as Ceres-La Salle moved closer to clinching a spot in the final round of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) President's Cup with a 2-0 demolition of Chinese Taipei's Tatung FC on Thursday night at the Panaad Stadium here.

In a complete opposite of their game plan against the North Koreans,  Ceres turned from being defensive to attack mode against Chinese Taipei.

Reichelt connected with a beautiful volley off a Carli de Murga free kick in the 17th minute, the lone goal completed off numerous offensive attacks that kept the Chinese Taipei backpedalling on defense.

Ceres continued its assault in the second half but failed to connect on several chances. Substitute Joshue Beloya made his presence felt with a nifty pass that resulted in a Guirado header three minutes before the 90th minute mark for the clincher.

The win hiked Ceres total points to four tying International Turkmen-Turkish University, which earlier settled for a 1-1 draw with North Korea's Rimyongsu in the first match.

Despite playing under the weather, Reichelt (foot injury) and Guirado (fever) delivered for the second straight time making them the marked men in their all-or-nothing match against Turkmenistan on Saturday.

"It doesn't matter if we will be the marked men. There are still other nine players on the pitch who are equally dangerous and can score," Reichelt said.

Guirado, meanwhile, offered the win to their goalkeeper Michael Casas, who took the blame for the match-tying goal in their opening assignment against North Korea.

Ceres team owner Leorey Yanson couldn't be happier with the performance of his club, which only had two months preparation for this prestigious international club tournament.

"As a manager, I think na nakuha natin yung gusto natin - to host such an event and to perform well in AFC," Yanson said. "I hope na sa last game natin, the players will still give their 200 percent to win."

Ceres coach Ali Go expressed confidence that they can pull it off on Saturday night.

"We still need to win or at least draw to advance [to the final round]. We can't afford to lose. We'll be playing the strongest team but with the crowd support, I'm confident and hoping we can perform well," Go said.

Ceres-La Salle will go for history 5:00pm on Saturday with an expected capacity crowd at the Panaad Stadium. North Korea, which still has an outside chance to get into the next round depending on the result of the first match, will play Chinese Taipei at 7:30pm.