Ateneo claims men's football lead

c/o UAAP

STRAIGHT from drubbing its archrival De La Salle University last Thursday, Ateneo de Manila University secured another major result—a 2-1 victory over Far Eastern University—in the UAAP Season 87 Collegiate Men’s Football Tournament on Sunday at the UP Diliman Football Stadium.

Down by a goal during the halftime break, the Blue Eagles leveled the contest through Dov Cariño’s 53rd minute goal. Ateneo then ramped up the pressure and found a breakthrough in the 81st minute as substitute midfielder Galen Fernandez scored past FEU goalkeeper Montaño Allan Diansuy to win the match.

”To get a win against La Salle, as an Atenean, I’m so happy to get the three points, especially if you score more goals against La Salle, They were very important three points,” said coach JP Merida. 

“Going to FEU, it’s a tough game. But also to get three points against FEU—it's a different class talaga. We need to celebrate and accept that it’s so nice to receive these kind of points.”

Earlier in the match, FEU defender Khent Brian Valenzuela initially gave the Tamaraws the lead with a header in the 42nd minute. The game then became heated as Merida and FEU coach Roman Oliver had an altercation before the halftime break.

Come the second half, Valenzuela missed a golden opportunity to double the Tamaraws’ lead just before Cariño’s header while his teammate Mel Anthony Baylon also missed another good chance to score.

Both teams then got entangled in a quick skirmish in the 84th minute, but thankfully cooler heads prevailed as the game continued smoothly soon after.

Ateneo—now on top of the standings with 9 points and a +6 goal difference—will complete face off against its neighbor University of the Philippines this Thursday at 6:30 p.m. on the same pitch.

”Looking forward against UP, of course, it’s a really tough game,” said Merida. “Playing against UP is very difficult because their crowd has a big impact while playing dito sa field nila, for sure, is hard because they’re also familiar with this field. We will take that challenge on Thursday.”

On the other hand, the Tamaraws fell to second place with six points and a +4 goal difference after suffering their first defeat this season.

FEU will try to bounce back against De La Salle University this Thursday at 4 p.m.

Johnny Romualdez, former Philippine Football Federation president from 2004-2008, was in attendance for this match alongside newly-installed men’s national team head coach Albert Capellas and PFF National Teams Director Freddy Gonzalez.