MANILA, Philippines – French striker Anthony Modeste of Tianjin Quanjian scores two goals to defeat Ceres-Negros FC, 2-0, on Tuesday, January 30 at the Tianjin Olympic Center Stadium in Tianjin, China.

Tianjin Quanjian will advance to Group E of the 2018 AFC Champions League, while Ceres falls out of contention in the 2018 AFC Champions league. 

In the 19th minute, French striker Anthony Modeste headed the ball into the back of the net off a corner kick that saw Tianjin go up, 1-0.

19′ GOAL! 1-0 Tianjin Quanjian!

Anthony Modeste beats @ceresnegrosfc keeper Toni Doblas with a brilliant header from a Tianjin corner to open scoring for the home side.#ACL2018 pic.twitter.com/ilYO9HW9yz

— FOX Sports LIVE! (@FSAsiaLive) January 30, 2018

Tianjin had possession towards the end of the first half but failed to double the lead as Belgian midfielder Axel Witsel and Brazilian forward Alexandre Pato were called offside in their respective chances. 

In the 57th minute, Toni Doblas’ goal kick landed in the wrong hands that paved way for Modeste to score on the breakaway to double Tianjin’s lead, 2-0. 

57′ GOAL! 2-0 Tianjin Quanjian!

Anthony Modeste srikes again! The ball goes from Witsel to Pato to Modeste, who makes a brilliant first touch and beats Doblas for his second of the game.#ACL2018 pic.twitter.com/Xxt5DAIQS5

— FOX Sports LIVE! (@FSAsiaLive) January 30, 2018

Ceres-Negros is still the first Filipino club to reach the preliminary round 3 of the AFC Champions League qualifiers. 

Doblas’ experience showed on the field as he made crucial saves that denied Tianjin on multiple occasions. The Ceres goalkeeper went one-on-one with Pato in the 70th minute, forcing the Brazilian to miss an open goal and hit the side netting. 

70′ CHANCE for Tianjin Quanjian! Doblas is forced to run out to help his defence, but Pato dodges past him and ends up shooting into the side netting.#ACL2018 pic.twitter.com/H5SJW85GP0

— FOX Sports LIVE! (@FSAsiaLive) January 30, 2018

The greatest chance for Ceres came at the 12th minute where Stephan Schrock received a lob and fired towards the near post only to be denied by Tianjin goal keeper Zhang Lu. 

12′ CHANCE for Tianjin! Modeste sends the ball to Sun Ke, but the Ceres defence manages to block him off.#ACL2018 pic.twitter.com/qfxSuCMGwZ

— FOX Sports LIVE! (@FSAsiaLive) January 30, 2018

Ceres-Negros will now compete in Group F of the 2018 AFC Cup against Home United, Shan United and the winner of the ASEAN qualifying play-offs, which will be between Boeung Ket Angkor and Lao Toyota FC. – Rappler.com