La Salle edges UST, secures top UAAP spot
STEPHEN Flores of UST and Uriel Dalapo of La Salle wrest possession during their UAAP Season 89 men’s football tournament game on Thursday. The Green Booters prevailed, 1-0.
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF UAAP
Lucas Aguilar continued his fine scoring form for De La Salle University, propelling the Green Booters to the top of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 89 men’s football tournament standings with a 1-0 victory over the University of Santo Tomas (UST) on Thursday at the UP Diliman Football Stadium.
The De La Salle Zobel alumnus scored the breakthrough goal just four minutes into the second half, handing La Salle the crucial lead and bringing his tally to five goals this season after a scoreless opening half.
At the other end of the pitch, La Salle goalkeeper Iñigo Castro delivered a spectacular performance, recording his fifth clean sheet of the season by denying every attempt from UST to find an equalizer.
“We prepared really well for this game because we knew that UST is such a strong opponent,” La Salle coach Richard Leyble said.
“We can’t afford to relax in this game. We needed to improve and prepare to beat them. So now we go back to the drawing board and think about how we get the next three points.”
The victory marked an improvement for the Green Booters from their previous encounter with the Golden Booters on 26 October when neither side managed to break the deadlock, forcing both teams to settle for a share of the points.
With the win, La Salle overtook the University of the Philippines for the top spot in the standings.
Although both teams are tied at 17 points, the Green Booters hold the advantage with a superior goal difference of plus-14 compared to the Fighting Maroons’ plus-five.
La Salle will look to build on its momentum when it faces archrival Ateneo de Manila University this Sunday at 4:30 p.m. at the same venue.
On the other hand, the result dealt a setback to UST, which was coming off a dominant victory over the University of the East in its previous outing, highlighted by Joshua Balliner’s first hat trick in the seniors division.
The Golden Booters struggled to find an equalizer throughout the second half as La Salle maintained firm control of possession.
UST had a last-ditch opportunity from a corner kick that could have spoiled La Salle’s victory, but the Golden Booters failed to capitalize.