THE “Sixth Man’ Magic did not work this time for Ceres Negros which settles for a scoreless draw with Malaysian club Felda United in a Asian Football Confederation Cup group stage match on Wednesday night.
Despite a wildly-cheering crowd of more than 9, 000 packing the Pana-ad Park and Football Stadium in Bacolod City, Ceres could not nail that solitary goal that could have gave them a 2-0 record on home ground.
Ceres scored a 5-0 shutout of Tampines Rover of Singapore a week ago in the same venue.
The draw, however, could not topple Ceres from the top of Group G. The Busmen have five points on one win and two draws to pace the group.
Hanoi FC of Vietnam remained at second place despite a huge 4-0 home win over Singapore’s Tampines Rovers also on Wednesday night. Hanoi and Ceres have identical points, but the Negros team clinched the top spot on goal difference.
Tampines Rovers ran third with three points, while Felda took the bottom with only two points in three matches.
The Busmen had several chances for a goal, the closest came in the 74th minute when Iain Ramsay’s attempt inside the box—on a cross from Fernando Rodriguez—missed its mark.
Roland Mueller was instrumental at the goal and foiled a 61st-minute penalty kick by Felda United’s Norshahrul Talaha.
Ceres Negros resumes its bid on April 5 when it battles Felda United at their opponent’s home pitch at the Shah Alam Stadium in Kuala Lumpur. Manny Ott will serve his one match suspension for his second yellow card of the tournament in the 89th minute.