2020 United City F.C. season

The 2020 season is United City Football Club's 9th in existence and 4th season in the top flight of Philippine football. This also marks as the first season the club plays as United City, after MMC Sportz took over the management of the club, which was formerly known as Ceres–Negros.

United City

2020 season
Owner	MMC Sportz Asia (from July)
Management	Leo Rey V. Yanson (Chairman; until July) Michael Hosking Eric M. Gottschalk (Co-founders; from July)
Head Coach	Frank Muescan (interim)
Stadium	Panaad Stadium (until July)
Philippines Football League	Winners
AFC Champions League	Play-off round
AFC Cup	Group stage (cancelled)
Top goalscorer	League: Bienvenido Marañón (7) All: Bienvenido Marañón (13)
Biggest win	0–10 (Aug 28 v Maharlika Manila, PFL Round 3)
Biggest defeat	2–0 (Jan 28 v FC Tokyo, AFC Champions League Play-off round)
Home colours Away colours
← 2019 2021 →
All statistics correct as of November 12, 2020.

In addition to the Philippines Football League, United City as Ceres–Negros has also participated in the second-tier continental competition, the AFC Cup which was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. United City intended to continue on participating in the AFC Cup under its new name, if the cancelled continental competition have resumed play.

Players

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.	Pos.	Nat.	Name	Notes
1	GK		Anthony Pinthus (on loan from ADT)	Second nationality:
2	DF		Sean Kane
3	FW		Pocholo Bugas
5	MF		Mike Ott	Second nationality:
6	MF		Tristan Kit Robles
7	MF		Bienvenido Marañón
8	MF		Manny Ott	Second nationality:
9	MF		Takashi Odawara
10	MF		OJ Porteria	Second nationality:
11	DF		Miguel Clarino
12	MF		Stephan Schröck (captain)	Second nationality:
13	DF		Dennis Villanueva	Second nationality:
14	MF		Jorrel Aristorenas
15	DF		Arnie Pasinabo
17	FW		Robert Lopez Mendy
18	DF		Joshua Dutosme
22	DF		Jordan Jarvis	Second Nationality:
24	GK		Florencio Badelic Jr.
25	GK		Ronilo Bayan Jr.
29	MF		Hikaru Minegishi	Second nationality:
30	MF		Angélo Marasigan	Second nationality:

Updated to match played on November 9, 2020.

Transfers

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Transfers in

Date	Position	Nationality	Name	Age	From	Type	Ref.
December 20, 2019	FW/AM		Mark Hartmann	27	Nakhon Ratchasima	Transfer	[1]
December 20, 2019	MF		Arnie Pasinabo	33	Kaya–Iloilo	Transfer	[2]
December 20, 2019	MF		Hikaru Minegishi	28	Chiangmai United	Transfer	[1]
December 2019	DF		Amani Aguinaldo	24	PKNP	Loan Return
December 31, 2019	DF		Joshua Grommen	23	Sukhothai	Transfer	[3]
February 6, 2020	MF		Manuel Ott	27	Ratchaburi Mitr Phol	Transfer	[4]
August 13, 2020	MF		Jordan Jarvis	22	Resources Capital	Transfer	[5]
August 13, 2020	GK		Anthony Pinthus	22	ADT	Loan	[6]
August 13, 2020	MF		Pocholo Bugas	18	Far Eastern University	Transfer	[7]
August 13, 2020	MF		Jorrel Aristorenas	26	Global	Transfer	[8]

Transfers out

Date	Position	Nationality	Name	Age	To	Type	Ref.
December 20, 2019	MF		Miguel Tanton	30	Unattached	Free	[1]
January 2, 2020	DF		Amani Aguinaldo	24	Trat	Transfer	[9]
January 7, 2020	DF		Carli de Murga	31	Chonburi	Transfer	[10]
January 7, 2020	FW		Charles Barberan				[10]
February 22, 2020	FW/AM		Mark Hartmann	28	Petaling Jaya City	Transfer	[11][12]
June 1, 2020[note 1]	FW/AM		James Younghusband	33	—	Retired	[14]
	DF		Joshua Grommen	23	Brisbane City	Free	[15][16]
	DF		Jeffrey Christiaens	29	Unattached	Free	[17]
	DF		Súper	28	Unattached	Free
	GK		Roland Müller	32	Unattached	Free
	MF		Dylan De Bruycker	22	Unattached	Free
	DF		Junior Muñoz	33	Unattached	Free

Kits

Supplier: Grand Sport (Ceres–Negros), Montè Athletics (United City) / Sponsor: Ceres Liner (Ceres–Negros), MARC Manila Regenerative Center (United City)

Ceres–Negros home (Asia)

Ceres–Negros away (Asia)

United City home (PFL)

United City away (PFL)

Competitions

Overview

Philippines Football League

Main article: 2020 Philippines Football League

Standings

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	United City (C)	5	4	0	1	25	3	+22	12	Qualification for 2021 AFC Champions League group stage and 2022 AFC Champions League group stage[a]
2	Kaya–Iloilo	5	3	2	0	5	2	+3	11	Qualification for 2021 AFC Champions League qualifying play-offs
3	Azkals Development Team[b]	5	3	0	2	9	2	+7	9
4	Mendiola 1991	5	1	2	2	2	8	−6	5	Standby team for AFC Cup group stage[c]
5	Maharlika Manila	5	1	0	4	2	19	−17	3
6	Stallion Laguna	5	0	2	3	3	12	−9	2

Source: PFL
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored.^[20]
(C) Champions
Notes:

1. As a result of the 2021 Philippines Football League being cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines, the PFF nominated the 2020 champions, United City, as the participating club in the 2021 AFC Champions League Group Stage.
2. The Azkals Development Team are a guest team for the PFL and ineligible to qualify for AFC club competitions.^[18]
3. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines, the 2020 Copa Paulino Alcantara was cancelled by the Philippine Football Federation. As a result, the 2020 Philippines Football League runners-up will qualify for the AFC Champions League qualifying play-offs, and the third place team will qualify for the 2021 AFC Cup unless the PFL runners-up fail to qualify for the AFC Champions League.^[19]

Results summary

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
5	4	0	1	25	3	+22	12	2	0	0	9	0	+9	2	0	1	16	3	+13

Last updated: November 9, 2020.
Source: PFL

Results by round

Round	1	2	3	4	5
Ground	H	A	A	H	H
Result	W	W	W	W	L
Position	1	1	1	1	1

Updated to match(es) played on November 9, 2020. Source: PFL
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Matches

United City v Azkals Development Team

October 28, 2020 (2020-10-28) 1	United City	1–0	Azkals Development Team	Carmona
16:30 UTC+8	Mi. Ott 25'			Stadium: PFF National Training Centre Referee: Rodney Leyble (Philippines)

Mendiola 1991 v United City

October 31, 2020 (2020-10-31) 2	Mendiola 1991	0–6	United City	Carmona
14:30 UTC+8			Marañón 12', 25', 44' (pen.) Lopez Mendy 38', 60' Mi. Ott 52' (pen.)	Stadium: PFF National Training Centre Referee: Rodney Leyble (Philippines)

Maharlika Manila v United City

November 3, 2020 (2020-11-03) 3	Maharlika Manila	0–10	United City	Carmona
20:00 UTC+8			Mi. Ott 16', 73' Marañón 19' Schröck 33' Porteria 39', 71', 75' (pen.) Lopez Mendy 49', 57', 63'	Stadium: PFF National Training Centre Referee: Meliton Pelayo (Philippines)

United City v Stallion Laguna

November 6, 2020 (2020-11-06) 4	United City	7–1	Stallion Laguna	Carmona
20:00 UTC+8	Mi. Ott 6', 54' Odawara 25' Marañón 58', 66', 71' Porteria 71'		N'Dour 12'	Stadium: PFF National Training Centre Referee: Meliton Pelayo (Philippines)

United City v Kaya–Iloilo

November 9, 2020 (2020-11-09) 5	United City	1–2	Kaya–Iloilo	Carmona
19:30 UTC+8	Ma. Ott 83'		Daniels 15' Mitchell 38'	Stadium: PFF National Training Centre Referee: Clifford Daypuyat (Philippines)

AFC Champions League

Main article: 2020 AFC Champions League

Qualifying play-offs

Main article: 2020 AFC Champions League qualifying play-offs

Ceres–Negros v Shan United

January 14, 2020 (2020-01-14) Preliminary Round 1	Ceres–Negros	3–2	Shan United	Manila, Philippines
19:30 UTC+8	Lopez Mendy 5' Marañón 40' Porteria 79'		Zin Min Tun 73' Djawa 87'	Stadium: Rizal Memorial Stadium[note 2]

Port v Ceres–Negros

January 21, 2020 (2020-01-21) Preliminary Round 2	Port	0–1	Ceres–Negros	Bangkok, Thailand
19:00 UTC+7			Schröck 51'	Stadium: PAT Stadium

FC Tokyo v Ceres–Negros

January 28, 2020 (2020-01-28) Play-off round	FC Tokyo	2–0	Ceres–Negros	Tokyo, Japan
19:00 UTC+9	Muroya 48' Adaílton 89'	Live Report Stats Report		Stadium: Ajinomoto Stadium Attendance: 6,630 Referee: Masoud Tufayelieh (Syria)

AFC Cup

Main article: 2020 AFC Cup

Group stage

Main article: 2020 AFC Cup group stage

The group stage draw was held on December 10, 2019 at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Ceres–Negros were drawn in Group G alongside Indonesian Liga 1 champions Bali United, Vietnamese V.League 1 third-placers^{[note 3]} Than Quảng Ninh, and Cambodian C-League winners Svay Rieng who qualified via play-offs.^[22]

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts		CER	TQN	SVR	BAL
1	Ceres–Negros	3	2	1	0	10	2	+8	7		—	2–2	4–0	4–0
2	Than Quảng Ninh	3	1	1	1	7	7	0	4		29 Sep	—	23 Sep	26 Sep
3	Svay Rieng	3	1	0	2	3	9	−6	3[a]		26 Sep	1–4	—	2–1
4	Bali United	3	1	0	2	5	7	−2	3[a]		23 Sep	4–1	29 Sep	—

Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
Notes:

1. Head-to-head points: Svay Rieng 3, Bali United 0.

Ceres–Negros v Svay Rieng

February 11, 2020 (2020-02-11) Matchday 1	Ceres–Negros	4–0	Svay Rieng	Manila
19:30 UTC+8	Odawara 12' Grommen 14' Marañón 55', 70'	Live Report Stats Report		Stadium: Rizal Memorial Stadium[note 2] Attendance: 4,100[25] Referee: C. R. Srikrishna (India)

Ceres–Negros v Than Quảng Ninh

February 25, 2020 (2020-02-25) Matchday 2	Ceres–Negros	2–2	Than Quảng Ninh	Manila[note 4]
18:00 UTC+7	Marañón 45+3' (pen.) Porteria 62'	Live Report Stats Report	Lynch 26' Nguyễn Hải Huy 70'	Stadium: Rizal Memorial Stadium[note 2] Attendance: 5,078 Referee: Mohd Amirul Izwan Yaacob (Malaysia)

Ceres–Negros v Bali United

March 11, 2020 (2020-03-11) Matchday 3	Ceres–Negros	4-0	Bali United	Manila
19:30 UTC+8	Porteria 35' Marañón 54' (pen.), 69' Lopez Mendy 73'	Live Report Stats Report		Stadium: Rizal Memorial Stadium[note 2] Attendance: 0[note 5] Referee: Sadullo Gulmurodi (Tajikistan)

Bali United v Ceres–Negros

September 23, 2020 (2020-09-23) Matchday 4	Bali United	Cancelled	Ceres–Negros	Cẩm Phả
--:-- UTC+8				Stadium: Cẩm Phả Stadium

Svay Rieng v Ceres–Negros

September 26, 2020 (2020-09-26) Matchday 5	Svay Rieng	Cancelled	Ceres–Negros	Cẩm Phả
--:-- UTC+6:30				Stadium: Cẩm Phả Stadium

Than Quảng Ninh v Ceres–Negros

September 29, 2020 (2020-09-29) Matchday 6	Than Quảng Ninh	Cancelled	Ceres–Negros	Cẩm Phả[note 4]
--:-- UTC+7				Stadium: Cẩm Phả Stadium

Notes

1. A force majeure was invoked due to the COVID-19 pandemic, when United City was still known as Ceres–Negros and under the ownership of Leo Rey Yanson, which forced the termination of contract of all the club's players at the time. Departure of some of the players were announced or reported at a later date. When MMC Sportz Asia took over the club, and rename it as United City, it had to re-sign the club's players. Players who were eventually re-signed are not included in this table.^[13]
2. Ceres–Negros played their home matches at Rizal Memorial Stadium, Manila, instead of their regular home stadium Panaad Stadium, Bacolod, which is undergoing renovation.^[23][24]
3. Hà Nội, the league champions and Vietnamese Cup winners, failed to obtain an AFC license (due to their U15 team not participating in the Vietnam National U15 Youth League), and therefore were not eligible for continental qualification. As a result, all AFC Champions League and AFC Cup berths are distributed to the remaining teams by league position: runners-up Ho Chi Minh City FC and third place Than Quảng Ninh.^[21]
4. Due to the decision of the Vietnamese government to suspend sporting events in February in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the group stage matches which Vietnamese teams were supposed to host were switched with the corresponding away matches.^[26]
5. The match between Ceres–Negros and Bali United in Manila was played behind closed doors due to a pandemic of COVID-19 in the Philippines.^[27]