University of Santo Tomas and University of the East stayed in step in the Final Four race in the UAAP Season 80 men’s football tournament after separate wins Thursday at the FEU-Diliman pitch.
The Growling Tigers shut out Adamson, 5-0, to remain at third place with 18 points.
Steven Anotado came back from his two-game suspension and immediately made impact as he sent the ball to the back of the net at the eighth minute.
Marvin Bricenio pounced on the hapless Falcons defense as he doubled the lead with a goal at the 35th minute.
UST continued to tear Adamson into shreds in the second half, which saw John Ian de Castro complete a hat-trick with his goals at the 54th, 81st and 89th minute.
Meanwhile, it was Kent Galaura who came to the Red Warriors’ rescue for their 1-0 win over National University.
Galaura drilled the strike at the 75th minute for the lone goal of the contest, which saw UE’s Stephane Dagaraga and NU’s Sean Epili attested with red cards.
The Red Warriors forced themselves on a tie for the fifth place with NU at 13 points.
UP still leads the board with 26 points, closely followed by Ateneo at 25. La Salle sits at fourth place with 16 points, FEU at seventh spot with nine points, while Adamson remained scoreless.