Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Bacolod: Blake Powell’s early penalty was cancelled out by an Isaka Cernak header as Ceres Negros and Home United played out a 1-1 draw in the first leg of the 2018 AFC Cup ASEAN Zonal Final on Wednesday.
After a bright opening by Ceres, Patrick Reichelt played in striker Powell, who was handed a penalty in the ninth minute after being taken down in the box by Shakir Hamzah.
The Australian made no mistake from the spot as he slotted the ball past Home United goalkeeper Rudy Khairullah to give the home side an early lead and send the Panaad Stadium crowd into raptures.
But just as Mike Ott went close to doubling Ceres’ lead shortly after, Home United‘s immediate counter attack led to the equaliser and a crucial away goal on 23 minutes.
Izzdin Shafiq’s in-swinging corner found Shahril Ishak, who managed to escape his marker at the near post to head over Toni Doblas with the ball rebounding off the woodwork, with Cernak the fastest to react as he headed in to level proceedings.
The end-to-end nature of the first half continued right up until the whistle when Manuel Ott’s indirect free-kick in the first minute of stoppage time sailed over Khairullah in goal as both sides remained deadlocked going into the break.
www.the-afc.com/en/club/afc_cup/video/asean_zonal_final_first_leg_ceres_negros_vs_home_united.html
