Ramil Bation III and Orlan Togores linked up late to propel University of the Philippines past De La Salle University, 3-1, in the UAAP Season 86 Men’s Football Tournament Sunday at the UP Diliman Football Stadium.
Bation, a rookie out of Andres Bonifacio College, unleashed a fantastic free kick in the 77th minute, which set the Fighting Maroons on their way to victory.
Togores then completed the job in the 79th minute with a lob over Green Booters goalkeeper Enrico Mangaoang, who was off his line.
“One of our objectives is to improve every match,” said coach Popoy Clariño, whose team rose to third place in the standings with six points and a plus-1 goal difference after two wins and one loss.
“We took all the things that we needed to imrpove on from the FEU game and we focused on that during trainings. It’s so nice to see all the things that we talked about were covered during this game,” he continued.
Early in the match, Isaac Anoh gave the Green Booters a dream start in the 7th minute with a fantastic finish.
It was the Ivorian’s fourth goal this season in just three matches, but it forced the Fighting Maroons to wake up from their slumber.
Third-year midfielder Vincent Parpan scored UP’s equalizer in the 10th minute as La Salle failed to capitalize on its lead.
The Fighting Maroons’ continuous pressure against the Green Booters isolated Anoh up front, which led to the eventual game winners of Bation and Togores.
UP will try to build on this win against neighbor Ateneo de Manila University this Sunday at 6:30 PM on its home pitch.
“Ateneo is a very tough opponent. They have a great coach — coach JP Merida. Of course, they have that Ateneo mindset. But again, we’re always ready. There are things we still need to improve on and we’re gonna keep doing that,” said Clariño.
On the other hand, La Salle fell to fourth place with six points and a plus-1 goal difference after getting its first loss this season.
The Green Booters will seek to bounce back against the Adamson Soaring Falcons this Thursday at 4:00 PM at the same venue.
DLSU XI: Mangaoang (GK), Cruel, Go, Henares, Anoh, Almohjili (C), Peñalosa, Lozano, Bengay, Abela, Labayen.
UP XI: Gonzalez (GK), Bongolan, Lobitaña, Tobias (C), Pagdanganan, FA Tacardon, Parpan, FC Tacardon, Lampayan, Bode, Bation III
