A RESILIENT Ceres-La Salle reminded Global FC that the road to the United Football League title still goes through them.
The defending champion Busmen fought back from two goals down to hold the UFL pacesetter to a 3-3 draw in a marquee matchup that lived up to its billing on Sunday at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.
Bienvenido Marañon struck the equalizing goal after fellow Spanish standout Adrian Gallardo registered a brace that sparked the comeback as Ceres forced Global to drop points for the first time this season after going unbeaten in its first 10 matches.
The Busmen continued to lurk behind Global, running second with 28 points, three behind their victims at the end of the first round.
Saving the best for last, the league pitted the last two league champions in the last match of the first round that saw Global start strong as Ivan Petrovic and Misagh Bahadoran scored early to put the 2014 champion ahead by two goals 25 minutes into the match.
But knowing they could hardly afford to lose the potential title-deciding match, the Busmen pulled a goal back thanks to Gallardo a minute before first-half stoppage time.
Hikaru Minegishi put Global two goals up anew with a goal off a feed by Omid Narazi in the 59th minute, but that set the stage for the Busmen’s rally.
Earlier, Stallion FC and Green Archers United also fought to a stalemate, a 1-1 decision, to stay in the middle of the pack at sixth and seventh with 20 and 14 points, respectively.
Nomads scored the only win in the tripleheader as it blanked Pasargad, 4-0, to climb to ninth spot with nine points, while leaving its victim stuck at the bottom of the 12-club pile with a measly point to show.
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