Busmen out of AFC Champs League qualifiers, yield to Yangon U, 2-1

MANILA, Philippines — Myanmar supremo Yangon United dealt Philippine counterpart Ceres Negros FC a heartbreaking loss at home, 2-1,  booting the Busmen out of the AFC Champions League qualifiers last night at a packed Panaad Stadium in Bacolod.

Kaung Htet Soe came off the bench to fire the second-half strike that put a bitter ending to the Busmen's first-ever home outing in Asia's premier club tournament in front of 7,500 Pinoy supporters and closed the door on their quest for a historic stint in the group stage.

While Yangon advanced to the second round of the preliminaries against Thai side Changrai United, Ceres will now shift its focus on the second-tier AFC Cup, where it will try to duplicate its Asean zone championship two years ago.

Though yielding home field advantage and the possession game early on, the Burmese side proved more dangerous in the final third and opened scoring in the 28th with Vinicius Miller sending his free kick through a gap in the Ceres wall and into the bottom of the net.

The home team pressed for the equalizer and got the breakthrough a minute before the break with Stephan Shrock delivering a magnificent strike off a fine assist from captain Martin Steuble.

But Yangon restored the upperhand in the 59th when an unmarked Kaung made good on the well-placed delivery from Sekou Sylla then survived a furious fightback by the Busmen that saw OJ Porteria and Kevin Ingreso get good opportunities but failed to cash in.