Lampayan stunner shatters Ateneo’s quest for perfection

c/o UAAP

Matches on Thursday at the UP Diliman Football Stadium

4 p.m. — UST vs FEU

6:30 p.m. —DLSU vs Ateneo

LIAM Lampayan’s dramatic stoppage goal propelled University of the Philippines toward a 1-0 victory over Ateneo de Manila University to solidify its hold of third place in the UAAP Season 87 Collegiate Men’s Football Tournament on Sunday at the UP Diliman Football Stadium.

Lampayan, a third-year defender out of De La Salle Zobel, headed the ball home in the 90+5 minute to seal the victory for the Fighting Maroons in climactic fashion and hand the Blue Eagles their first loss of the season after a perfect seven-match run.

“It was a relief,” said Lampayan. “The coaches always pushed me to score talaga and it’s a relief I finally got my first goal of the season. Ateneo’s obviously the team to beat because of their record of seven wins. Our goal was to stop their winning streak and kill their momentum. I’m happy that I was able to contribute to that.”

Before Lampayan’s winning goal, both schools had considerable chances to break the deadlock. Ateneo midfielder Galen Fernandez hit the crossbar for the Blue Eagles halfway through the first half while Viggo Herce and Ramil Bation’s headers went wide before the break.

Leo Maquiling had a big chance to open the scoring early in the second half, only for him to miss the target while Fernandez had another opportunity that went begging. At the other end, UP goalkeeper Alfonso Gonzalez managed to prevent the ball from fully crossing the line after Dov Cariño and Jethro Flores combined in attack.

Ultimately, the Fighting Maroons managed to get the three points and get one over the Blue Eagles, who previously prevailed 2-0 in the first round last October 10 courtesy of Cariño’s brace.

“Kudos to Ateneo, they’re a great team,” said Fighting Maroons head coach Popoy Clarino. “It was a neck-to-neck battle. I think we deserved this because of the work that we put in. We were rewarded with the win.”

The Fighting Maroons strengthened their hold on third place by increasing their tally to 16 points and a plus-9 goal difference.

UP will face De La Salle University this Sunday at 4 p.m. on its home pitch.

On the other hand, Ateneo — still in top place with 21 points and a plus-17 GD — will next face archrival DLSU this Thursday at the same venue.