Green Booters outscore defending champions FEU
The De La Salle University (DLSU) Green Booters outscored the defending champions, the Far Eastern University (FEU) Booters, 3–1, earlier today at the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman Football Stadium.
Franck Anoh was awarded Man of the Match after scoring two goals in the Green and White’s victory.
At the beginning of the match, both teams were aggressive on offense, eager to get a goal over the other. But it was La Salle that scored early as a follow-up kick by Luis Henares after a deflected Franck Anoh shot made it into the box during the second minute, 1–0.
Team captain Mo Almohjili almost gave the Green and White a two-goal advantage immediately in the next minute, but FEU defenders made sure to clear the ball.
Likewise, the Tamaraws were eager to equalize, as they continued to be more aggressive on ball possession, but had no direct goal attempts for a while. That is until the 13th minute wherein rookie Tamaraw, Selwyn Mamon almost headed the ball into the box, but landed just off target, keeping the score as is.
FEU continued to attempt to score with several corner kicks, but the Green Booters showcased a strong and steady defense with goalie Enrico Mangaoang at the helm of it, making saves. For a while, momentum was still on La Salle’s side as they took control of ball possession more and defended well.
Then, during the 22nd minute, Mamon landed a goal from a transition play, leveling the game at 1-all. This proved to be the spark for the Tamaraws’ offense as they then proceeded to make more direct goal attempts such as Martini Rey’s direct shot and their captain, Jermi Darapan’s left-footed cross towards the goal. Both these goal attempts were fruitless as the former was over the box while the latter was saved by Mangaoang.
In the 32nd minute, FEU’s Sherwin Basindanan rough tackled Almohjili which granted the former a yellow card, and the Green Booters their first free-kick of the game. However, this set piece taken by Christian Peñalosa amounted to no change in the score as it was cleared by Tamaraw defenders. A few minutes later, a run by Ace Amita who passed it to Mamon attempted to give FEU a goal advantage, but the shot was wide.
The Tamaraws were given several more chances via a set piece and corner kicks but these again amounted to no goals. For a while, FEU controlled the pace of the game as they had more ball possession and intercepted the Green and White’s shot attempts.
Momentum then shifted again to the Green Booters during the 44th minute, when a running Almohjili found an open Anoh who slotted the ball in between two FEU defenders, 2–1.
A stoppage time of three minutes was added to half, where both squads kept each other in check on both sides of the field. Just before the end of stoppage time, Anoh clinched a brace as he followed up on a deflected La Salle shot, extending the lead to 3–1.
As soon as the whistle blew for the second half, both teams battled it out to add more goals to their tally — with La Salle aiming to add to their advantage and FEU to catch up to the latter.
Similar to the first half, the Tamaraws had more chances to convert off of corner kicks or direct shots on target compared to the Green and White. But these chances amounted to no score change as these either landed wide or were cleared by Lasallian defenders. On the other hand, along with aiming to add to their advantage, the Taft-based squad focused on holding a steady defense during most of the second half.
Green Booter, Fernando Suarez looked to add to La Salle’s goals during the 74th minute with a direct kick to the box, but it landed wide. Seven minutes later, Viejay Frigillano aimed to rally the Morayta team’s offense off a set piece, but Mangaoang made the crucial save again.
An extra time of six minutes was later added to the game, where FEU was unable to score any more goals and La Salle maintained their defense. Khent Valenzuela’s run toward the box was the Tamaraws’ last attempt to score, but La Salle defenders soon cleared the ball, just before the end of the match, 3–1.
The Green Booters will aim to continue their winning streak as they face-off against the UP Fighting Maroons on March 3, 6:30 PM at the same venue.
