After coming off a loss against archrivals ADMU Blue Eagles last Thursday in Moro Lorenzo Field, the Lasallians received their second straight loss. They were upset by the AdU Soaring Falcons, 1-0, earlier today in the FEU-Diliman Field. Ejike Ugwoke was the lone goal scorer as he headed the ball home at the 58th minute.
First half
Coach Hans Smit made a total of six changes from the last game hoping that the shuffle would change their fortunes. Unfortunately, the result remained the same. When he was asked about his decision, Smit replied, “They’re not moving, nawawala yung killer instinct. They don’t want to win, so I had to make some changes.” The Soaring Falcons started the kick-off with the ball, but the Green and White quickly got the ball and disposed its opponents.
The first minute saw captain Noel Brago take a free kick which failed to connect. Two minutes after, the Soaring Falcons received a free kick near the box, but it was blocked by the DLSU wall for a throw-in. At the fifth minute, DLSU’s Mauro Acot tried to test AdU’s goalkeeper, Carl Viray, but the prior’s long shot effort went straight into the latter’s hands.
Marcus Garcia was then released at the right hand side of the field and made a cross to Matthew Custodio. His shot lacked power and failed to test Viray. Brago took a free kick moments later and there was a scramble in the box, resulting in a flick by Cristian Zubiri to Custodio, but his header went wide.
AdU answered back a few minutes later and was led by Ugwoke. Nathan Alcantara had a bad first touch in receiving a cross, thus giving Ugwoke the opportunity to draw first blood. He intercepted the ball from Alcantara, but DLSU’s goalkeeper, Paeng De Guzman, quickly made the denial. Ugwoke got a three-on-one counter attack situation, but fumbled the opportunity with a misplaced pass. Second Half The physical match resumed in the second half with Zubiri firing straight at Viray. Zubiri tried to test the keeper once again only for his cross to be intercepted.
Second half
The physical match resumed in the second half with Zubiri firing straight at Viray. Zubiri tried to test the keeper once again only for his cross to be intercepted. DLSU continued to push for a goal with Acot taking a corner, but his cross was caught again by Viray.
The Green-and-White was active again as it produced good movement towards the goal, but was denied by the AdU defense. After a barrage of attacks by DLSU, the Soaring Falcons shocked everyone with a goal off a counter-attack. A cross was played inside the box and Ugwoke capitalized on the situation to head the ball home for a goal.
“Everybody was too eager. Number one, [Jhoguev] Ybañez should have not let that player go through the goal line,” Smit said on conceding an easy header.
Smit reacted by inserting a few of his players one by one. Yoshi Koizumi was the first one to come off the bench and was followed by Jed Diamante, Jeremiah Bernaldez, and Eugenio Carlos a few minutes later. Unable to turn things around, Smit continued to look for an impact player off the bench. Nace Gonzales, Nicko Villacin, and Christopher Lawless came on within the last 15 minutes, but their insertion was not enough to claim an equalizing goal.
“You can see that we were dominating, but it’s just that we don’t have the finishing. That’s the problem, and last two weeks, that’s all we’ve been working on. It’s the mentality, they don’t want to score. How can you win a game without scoring?” said Smit on the situation.
DLSU will aim to bounce back against the FEU Tamaraws on Thursday, February 23, at 4 pm at the Moro Lorenzo Field in Ateneo.
