ACL 2: Despite defeat, Cebu holds ground at Selangor in 'Battle of Giants'

Selangor stood tall at home despite a gallant fight from Cebu. AFC

By Ivan Saldajeno

MANILA--Dynamic Herb Cebu dropped its second straight match in the AFC Champions League 2.

However, it will still leave Petaling Jaya, Malaysia with some positives as they held Selangor to only one goal on Thursday night.

Only a Yohandry Orozco goal made the difference as the Red Giants, despite dominating the possession game, only settled for the 1-0 win at the MBPJ Stadium as they even had to dodge a late bullet from the Gentle Giants.

Taking care of the ball 80 percent of the time during the "Battle of Giants", Selangor could only score one goal from Orozco, who converted off a short cross in the 10th minute.

Jun Badelic kept on denying Selangor from pulling away from thereon, delivering fantastic saves that could have been worthy of Man of the Match honors had the match ended in a goalless draw.

Rintaro Hama had a golden opportunity to force the stalemate literally in the final minute of the match, but his close-range shot just went wide to the right to the sigh of relief from Selangor keeper Azim Al Amin.

The win moved Selangor to four points two matches in, just behind Jeonbuk, a 4-1 winner against Muangthong also on Thursday night to remain perfect for the ACL 2 season, for the top spot in Group H.

Cebu remained at the bottom of the group with no point to show, but the club surely did better from their 0-6 blowout loss against Jeonbuk at the Rizal Memorial Stadium in their ACL 2 opener.

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