THE ATENEO Blue Eagles suffered their first defeat of Ang Liga Season 17 at the hands of the University of the Philippines (UP) Fighting Maroons on Sunday, September 22, at the UP Diliman football pitch in Quezon City.

The result means that Ateneo failed to build on their previous 2-1 victory over De La Salle University (DLSU) and now holds a record of 2-1-1 heading into their next game. 

UP rookie Francis Tacardon delivered the only goal of the game in the first half as the Fighting Maroons controlled the tempo for much of the first 45. 

The second half presented a different story after tactical changes allowed the Blue Eagles to finally boss the match. However, the Blue and White failed to capitalize on their chances, allowing UP to escape with their lead intact at the final whistle. 

After the game, defender Justin Dy shared that the Blue Eagle XI needs to find their feet faster. “I feel what we need to work on is starting the game strong because it has been a recurring problem since before. We would always start slow and end up trying to fix ourselves later in the game,” he said.

This much was evident in their previous game where they were forced to come from behind to beat DLSU. The Blue Eagles look to improve on strengthening their opening play in the fixtures to come.

The Blue Eagles will try to find their winning form again in the next matches (schedule and venue TBA).

Ateneo Starting XI:

James (GK); Cordero, Dy, Liao, Young; Nacional, Haosen, Mercado, Uy; Setters, Lim

Substitutions:

Arcilla on for James
Alleje on for Young
P. Mathay on for Setters
W. Lopez on for Lim
Gayoso on for Uy
Guerrero on for Haosen
Alcuaz on for Cordero