AFTER 90 minutes of action, the Ateneo Blue Eagles soared past the Far Eastern University (FEU) Tamaraw Booters 1-0 earlier tonight, April 13, at the University of the Philippines (UP) Football Pitch. Super-sub Kofi Agyei broke the deadlock at the 80th minute mark to give the lead and the win to Ateneo. The Blue Eagles now find themselves at the top of the standings with 18 cumulative points, surpassing both De La Salle University and University of the East at the top of the bracket.
The first half was a battle of attrition for both sides as neither squad could make a dent on the scoreboards. The Tamaraw Booters had the first opportunity to score with a corner kick at the five-minute mark, but goalkeeper Artuz Cezar continued his stellar performances on the season with yet another save for Ateneo.
The Blue Eagles started off on the wrong foot as starting defender Jose Lopez—Ateneo’s hero in their last matchup against Adamson—was unable to recover from an injury. Lopez suffered an injury at the one-minute mark and was later subbed out in the 10th minute of the game. Ateneo eventually had their opportunity to put a point on the board with a Leo Maquilling shot that was cleared by the FEU defenders at the 12th minute.
Defense became the story of the game for Ateneo the rest of the half as FEU continued to pounce on opportunities to take the match away from Ateneo. A 28-minute corner kick, a 30-minute shot from outside the box, and a 37-minute free kick all threatened the Ateneo defense, but all were saved by Cezar on the last line of defense. After 45 minutes, a 0-0 deadlock remained going into the halftime break.
The second half started out in similar fashion as the first, as Cezar’s keeping continued to get pressed by the Tamaraw Booters. FEU’s early aggression resulted in a long shot at the 46th minute that was swiftly deflected by Cezar.
The break proved to be beneficial on Ateneo’s end, as the Blue Eagles were able to better match FEU’s offensive firepower with their own attacks. In the 55th minute, Leo Maquilling and Dov Cariño nearly connected on a cross inside the box, but the poor weather conditions made it difficult to finish, thwarting the play. Maquiling sent out another cross later on at the 72nd minute, but FEU goalkeeper Jetrick Fabrigas managed to punch the ball away.
Finally, at the 80-minute mark, Agyei managed to sprint past FEU’s defenses and found himself one-on-one against the FEU goalkeeper. With Agyei in full sprint after the ball, Fabrigas took a gamble outside the box to try and clear the ball, but Agyei beat him and found himself open in the box. The Ateneo striker sent the ball to the upper right corner of the goal to put Ateneo up 1-0, allowing the Blue Eagles to take the number one seed.
Ateneo now looks to maintain their place on the mountaintop in their next matchup against the University of Santo Tomas on Sunday, April 23 at the UP Football Pitch.
