MANILA (27 April 2016) – Ceres La Salle of the Philippines wrote AFC Cup history as the country’s first team to to advance to the Round of 16 after a scoreless draw with Selangor in a Group E match at the Selayang Stadium on Tuesday.
The Philippines club remained unbeaten after five matches for a total of nine points. Selangor, the Malaysia Cup champions, are still alive – with a big dose of help from Bangldesh club Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi FC who pulled off a stunning 3-2 win over Singapore’s Tampines Rovers at the Bangabandhu Stadium in Dhaka in another GroupE match.
With the draw Selangor have eight points while Tampines’ defeat left the club with seven points. Who join Ceres will only be known on May 10 at the Jalan Besar Stadium when the Tampines host Selangor.
Selangor will need only a draw but Tampines will have to win against the Red Giants to advance.
Ceres goalkeeper Michael Casas, who is also the team’s skipper, played a sterling role for his team on a night when Selangor lost bite upfront when their Liberian international Patrick Ronaldinho Wleh was forced to leave the field after 20 minutes through injury following a nasty clash with an opponent after only 10 minutes of play.
Wleh was substituted by Adam Nor Azlin but it changed the scenario for Zainal Abidin Hassan’s team with Argentine hitman Mauro Olivi, Hazwan Bakri and Indonesian import Andik Vermansyah all firing blanks.
Dhanmondhi’s stunning win over Tampines came with the help of a brace from their Gambian import Darboe and obe by Emeka Onuoha. Mustafic Fahrudin and former Sarawak striker Billy Mehmet scored for Tampines.
Tampines coach V. Sundramoorthy was a disappointed man with the defeat and said: “Honestly my team did not perform well and allowed the home team’s foreign players a lot of time.
“I am disappointed with the outcome but we have to move on and win against Selangor will put us through.”
For the record Tampines beat Selangor 1-0 away in the first round.
AFC CUP GROUP E RESULTS (April 26)
Selangor (Mas) 0 Ceres La Salle (Phi) 0
Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi FC (Ban) 3 Tampines Rovers (Sin) 2
