Far Eastern University-Diliman reaffirmed its dominance over University of Santo Tomas, securing a 2-1 victory in their first meeting since the UAAP Season 86 High School Boys’ Football Final, Saturday at the UP Diliman Football Stadium.
With a strong first-half performance, the Baby Tamaraws extended their impressive run, finishing the first round atop the standings with 15 points.
Despite conceding their first goal of the season, they head into the second round in formidable form.
Meanwhile, archrivals Ateneo de Manila University and De La Salle-Zobel bounced back from their respective losses last week, cruising to dominant wins over guest schools PAREF Southridge and Claret School of Quezon City.
Jerriemy Biton continued his breakout season, striking early in the fifth minute to give FEU-D the lead and notch his sixth goal of the campaign.
Francis Sambaan doubled the advantage in the 24th minute, handing the 12-time defending champions a comfortable cushion at halftime.
“Masaya na tuloy-tuloy pa rin ang panalo,” said FEU-D head coach Jake Morallo.
“Masaya na sa first round, naging top yung FEU, but hindi pa dito tapos yung laban. Good thing lang is gustong-gusto pa rin namin manalo every game. That’s the most important thing.”
UST had chances to claw back in the second half.
Midfielder Nathaniel Absalon squandered a golden opportunity with the goal at his mercy, and as stoppage time ran out, Kurbe Dairo managed to pull one back in the 90+3 minute.
However, it was too little, too late for the Junior Golden Booters.
“Alam naman natin na si UST gustong-gustong manalo,” Morallo added. “There were moments na kaya pa nila mag-score. There were moments na disorganized kami but I think we dominated the game. We had lots of chances and early goals sa first half so maganda yung game today.”
Despite the loss, UST remained in second place with 10 points, holding a superior goal difference of +9 over third-placed La Salle, which also had 10 points but a GD of +2.
(C) UAAP Season 87 Media Team
Ateneo recovered from last week’s 5-2 defeat to UST with a commanding 3-0 win over Southridge, reclaiming fourth place in the standings.
John Karol Molina wasted no time, opening the scoring in the fifth minute.
Substitute Ethan Roxas doubled the lead in the 70th minute, before Shawn Perea sealed the victory in stoppage time (90+5).
“This win was very important sa amin to finish the first round because it’s really difficult to motivate the players and also the coaches coming from three losses,” said Ateneo head coach JP Merida.
“I think they’re very good three points to finish the first round with and, of course, we’re very happy with our players. They started really well all the way until the last minute added in the second half. Hopefully, it’s a good start coming to the second round.”
Southridge, however, showed resilience.
Goalkeeper Carlito Vergara denied a penalty attempt from Ateneo’s Andres Dumlao, while Kim Jae Sung had a few promising chances that failed to find the net.
With the victory, Ateneo finished the first round with six points in fourth place, while Southridge remained in fifth with three points.
(C) UAAP Season 87 Media Team
Like their rivals, La Salle also rebounded from a 3-0 loss to FEU-D last week with a resounding 4-1 victory over Claret.
James Dinglasan led the Junior Green Booters with a brace, scoring in the second and 42nd minutes.
Geoffrey Marqueses added another in stoppage time (45+3), sending La Salle into halftime with a commanding 3-0 lead. Giomell Gigataras capped the rout with a goal in the 90+6 minute.
Despite the win, La Salle’s Ghanaian head coach, Nii Aryee Ayi, was not entirely satisfied with his team’s performance.
“So, I think this win is good, but I wasn’t impressed with the second half (in terms of) how we played. We could have scored more, but the finishing was there. So, again, we have to go back to the training grounds and correct all these little mistakes,” said Ayi.
Claret’s lone bright spot came in first-half stoppage time (45+1), when Filbert Tacardon found the back of the net to momentarily keep the Red Roosters in the game.
However, the loss left Claret still searching for its first point of the season.
