It was the first time that the University of the Philippines trailed early and conceded twice in a single match, but the Fighting Maroons remained unscathed after surviving neighbors Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles.
The UAAP Season 78 Men’s Football champions and the defending kings could not be separated on the scoreboard, as the battle of the league-leaders ended in a 2-2 stalemate. But the former ended as the top seed, Thursday evening at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.
As they have done the whole season, the Fighting Maroons controlled the possession, attacking, and otherwise for most of the first 15 minutes of the opening period. Ateneo settled for trying to disrupt the passing lanes, though they had little success in some stretch of that span of time.
With one such chance on the counter attack, the reigning champions were given a free kick after a foul was called on UP. The Blue Eagles then took advantage of an unorganized opposing defense and quickly stunned the latter with a Ryan Haosen header.
However, as this was an early goal, it did not bothered the Maroons, and instead the boys from Diliman stuck like glue to their game plan. Six minutes after, Fidel Tacardon had his run inside the box, and Julian Roxas was there to stop the rookie. Unfortunately for the former Rookie of the Year, it was inside their own penalty area. UP captain Ian Clarino was calm enough and latched the equalizer.
The Fighting Maroons had several chances to take the go-ahead goal, only the Ateneo did well enough to stop the shots, anchored on the able hands of the reigning Best Goalkeeper AJ Arcilla.
It was more of the same in the second period, as still the Maroons asserted their possession game against the Ateneans. The Blue Eagles’ defense was getting more reactive rather than proactive as the half went by, waiting for another mistake from the league-leaders.
Unfortunately for the Loyola side, their neighbors’ passing reached near-perfection and the latter used this to carve another opportunity on the attack. Finally, in the 52nd minute, the Fighting Maroons got the go-ahead goal they very much deserved.
This time it was Tacardon who received a good pass from the left, and in traffic, fired the ball into the back of the net for the Maroons’ second of the match, much to the delight of the UP faithful in attendance.
With several players taking their places on the pitch for both sides, things opened up for both sides. Still, nonetheless, the Diliman side held much of the possession and were definitely not in a hurry to fire a shot at Arcilla.
The Blue Eagles then took the opportunity of new faces in the UP back four. Ateneo fired looper off a shot that went over UP keeper Harel Dayan, and Joshua Laud was in the right place at the right time to take the equalizer with just three minutes left.
Nonetheless, the goal was late, as UP went on to seal their place at the top of the table with 34 points and Ateneo had to settle for 32.
Assistant coach Popoy Clarino was pleased with how the Maroons responded to that early goal. “The maturity showed, even though we were a goal down, we showed really good character to keep on fighting.”
Much of this was due to the seniors, led by skipper Ian Clarino.
The Fighting Maroons are looking forward to the semifinals match against the De La Salle University Green Booters, and Clarino hopes that the squad will play consistent throughout that match. “We have to play well for the whole 90 minutes against La Salle. It will be a very interesting match.”
On the other hand, the Blue Eagles will take on the University of Santo Tomas Golden Booters in the other Final Four outing.
