UNIVERSITY of Santo Tomas sustained its strong start in the UAAP Season 78 men’s football tournament with a 2-1 triumph over Ateneo at McKinley Hill field in Taguig over the weekend.
Goals from rookie AJ Pasion and Darwin Busmion in the second half proved enough for the Tigers to secure maximum points and continue their unbeaten start to the season.
The Tigers increased their tally to 14 points, two behind leader La Salle—6-0 victor over Adamson recently—as the tournament enters the final playdate of the first round.
After a goalless first half, the match came to life a minute after the restart as Pasion broke the deadlock, before Busmion made it 2-0 at the hour mark for coach Marjo Allado’s squad.
Mikko Mabanag gave the Blue Eagles a glimmer of hope with his late strike, but the Tigers hung on to secure their fourth win in six matches.
“We wanted to keep in step with La Salle at the top,” said Allado, whose team failed to even make the Final Four last season.
Ateneo stayed in sixth spot with six points.
Earlier, University of the Philippines and National University settled for a point each after battling to a scoreless draw.
The Fighting Maroons improved their haul to 11 points while the Bulldogs were three points behind with eight. Cedelf P. Tupas