LATE-GAME substitute Gelo Diamante scored the game-deciding goal to lift De La Salle past archrival Ateneo de Manila, 1-0, to enter the title round of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 77 men’s football on Sunday at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.
The top-seeded Green Archers reached the finals for the first time since 2006, as they aim to break a 17-year title drought.
They will face Far Eastern University, also a 1-0 winner over University of the Philippines, in the other semifinal encounter.
Arnel Amita delivered the game winner in the 99th minute of extra time to seal the finals match versus La Salle on Sunday, also at the Rizal Memorial pitch.
Throughout the match, the wards of veteran mentor Hans Smit controlled the possessions and had more shots on goal, but La Salle needed the late goal from Diamante to send the Taft-based school to the championship round.
Diamante, fresh off the injured list due to a fractured clavicle, failed to appear in Ateneo’s scouting report, as he entered the match in the 76th minute and tagged out brother and senior Dio and proved to be the secret weapon against the rookie-laden Blue Eagles.
“I have to give it to my boys. They have overdone themselves, [but] may kulang pa rin kami. We’re the best defensive team, but we can’t win by defense alone and you can’t win by possessions,” Smit said.
“But starting today, I told the boys that it doesn’t really matter how many we score or when we score, [but] as long as we score [we’re good]. We should not let it go to an extension or, God forbid, a penalty shootout,” he added.
Smit praised the younger Diamante, who he described as one of the best strikers in the league, after seeing his capability to come in as a vital substitute just days prior to their semifinal match.
“Christian Zubiri, our striker, is still a rookie and needs to learn a lot. But I took a chance on Gelo Diamante…I had him scrimmage [days before the game] without the brace and it seemed that he could do it, so I timed his entrance to play about 15 minutes. Fortunately, he was the one who scored the goal to prove his point,” Smit said.
The loss was a bitter pill to swallow for the young Ateneo XI as it had to adjust without captain Mikko Mabanag, who was banned from the match due his accumulated yellow cards in the elimination round.
In the first half, both sides were presented with a handful of opportunities in a tightly contested match, but neither team flinched nor blinked in the face of pressure to keep the match scoreless after the first 45 minutes.
But with La Salle’s tactics against a youthful Ateneo squad growing stale through most of the second half, Smit had to find fresh legs on his bench to keep their game going.
Enter the young Diamante, who immediately repaid Smit’s vote of confidence, calmly going one-on-one against Blue Eagles goalkeeper Jose Paolo Oracion inside the box and fired the winning goal.