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Fri 29 March 2024

La Salle zooms to top, escapes UST; Adamson finally wins point; UP draws again

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De La Salle University crafted another escape act and, in the process, went past the University of the East to top the UAAP men’s football tournament with a 3-2 win over the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Sunday at the University of the Philippines (UP) Football Stadium.

Feisty central midfielder Mohammad Almohjili and left winger Mikio Umilin scored two goals in two minutes to erase the Growling Tigers’ lead.

Alhomjili scored the Green Archers’ second goal with a direct free kick conversion in the 78th minute while the pint-sized Umilin goaled off a counterattacking run a minute later.

The two frustrated the brace of Archie Belluga in the 40th and 59th minute that erected a 2-1 lead for UST.

Archer midfielder Paolo Go responded to Belluga’s late first half goal with a long shot in the 54th minute.

“You can see that the attitude, the will to win was all ther. They never let up. Twice down and in a span of a minute or two, two goals. We hit UST hard when they were still down. They were leading for quite a time and then we scored. We can see that their defense did not make any move anymore. That’s why Mikio was able to score that goal,” explained La Salle manager Hans-Peter Smit after the game.

Two goalless draws sandwiched the La Salle-UST dogfight.

In the first game, Adamson University finally secured one point after seven games, settling with a goalless draw against pre-season favorite Far Eastern University (FEU).

Adamsonian goalkeeper Zaccheus Suarez made important saves against Tamaraw Stephen Soria and Gio Pabualan while forward Carl Mahinay almost won the game for the Soaring Falcons with a power strike that unfortunately hit the crossbar.

“Maybe this will be the basis for the team to improve,” commented Adamson interim coach Jeffrey Orada.

In the nightcap against archrival Ateneo de Manila, the UP Fighting Maroons drew for the fifth straight game with its third goalless draw of the season.

Just like their first round meeting, UP had more chances on offense but their shots were off target.

Atenean goalkeeper Artuz Cezar saved the game for the Blue Eagles with a crucial block on Anton Guariña in the second half.

“The good thing in the second half was we were very organized in team defending. We sent six subs. Yun lang naging problema namin. Walang impact ang subs. I think yun lang yung kailangan namin i-improve moving forward for our next game,” commented Ateneo head coach JP Merida.

La Salle now has 13 points with four wins, one draw, and a loss while FEU drops to third place with three wins, three draws, and one loss.

Ateneo is at fourth place with three wins, two draws, and two losses while UP has edged UST for fifth place with one win, five draws, and a loss.

UST has two wins, a draw, and a dismal four losses while Adamson trails the tournament with a draw and six losses.

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