Hanoi booters KO Negros FC

MANILA, Philippines — Ceres Negros FC faltered in its bid to book a third straight AFC Cup Asean zone finals appearance after getting the boot from semis rival Hanoi FC Tuesday night at Hang Day Stadium in the Vietnamese capital.

The Busmen suffered a 1-2 defeat in the second leg in front of Hanoi’s 4,000 strong home supporters, allowing the Vietnamese champs to win the two-match series on aggregate, 3-2, and advance to the championship tie against either fellow VLeague side Becamex Bin Duong or Indonesia’s PSM Makassar.

“We gave it our all,” said Ceres captain Stephan Schrock, whose wards needed a victory or at least a 2-2 draw to steal the series after getting forced to a 1-1 standoff in the opening leg in Bacolod a week ago.

“It’s not easy to play away in Hanoi against such a strong team and in the end, we have to go home,” added the Fil-German.

Hanoi, which needed only a 0-0 stalemate at home to progress, did more than that, putting the visiting Ceres away with back-to-back goals over a six-minute span in the second half.