By Jean Malanum
MANILA – Far Eastern University-Diliman relied on Jacob Keleghan and Jerriemy Biton to beat De La Salle-Zobel, 2-0, in the UAAP Season 87 boys’ football tournament on Saturday night at UP Diliman Stadium in Quezon City.
Keleghan broke the deadlock in the 51st minute while Biton scored his ninth goal this season in the 74th minute.
“I was surprised by today’s game because if we talk about the tactics side, we didn’t anticipate that their way of playing would be different in formation [and] style,” said FEU-D coach Jake Morallo.
“We were hesitant in the first half. We struggled because again, they were compacting and, of course, they were very aggressive. We struggled to get a place in the first half,” he added.
Despite the loss, DLSZ advanced to the Final Four after Ateneo bowed to University of Santo Tomas, 1-3.
FEU has 25 points followed by UST with 22 and DLSZ with 13.
Meanwhile, PAREF Southridge demolished fellow guest team Claret School of Quezon City, 3-0, to grab fourth place with 10 points.
Ateneo is fifth with nine points.
Kale Javier scored in the 31st and 62nd minutes while Francis Poticano scored in the 68th minute to seal the victory.
“Yes, it’s all about the homework and the training that we did before this match or toward this match,” Southridge’s Ghanaian mentor Sam Booney said.
“We knew they would come up with a back five and we prepared for it. We trained very hard for all the goals that we scored. Everything we did in training showed up in the game,” he added.
Southridge and Ateneo will battle for the last semis ticket next Saturday.
“We’re playing Ateneo and the objective is to win. There will be a different strategy for Ateneo because we just need a draw to get into the Final Four. We have to do whatever it takes to get there. Whether it is a win or it’s a draw — we have to do it. We can’t afford to lose the game. That’s it,” Bonney said. (PNA)
