Ayi Aryee sends UP back to UAAP football finals

Ayi Aryee sends UP back to UAAP football finals

report and pic by bob guerrero

Ocampo Field

Ateneo de Manila University

The UP Fighting Maroons roared back into the UAAP Football finals with an emphatic 2-0 victory over UST thanks to a pair of goals by Ayi Nii Aryee.

The result puts them atop the UAAP table on 19 points, four clear of UST with only a non-bearing tiff versus UE remaining in their schedule.  

The Ghanaian poked the ball past UST keeper Ramon Borigas in the 10th minute and then treated the gallery at Ateneo's Ocampo Field with one of the UAAP's best goals of the year in the 51st. 

Borigas parried a cross into the direction of Aryee who was lurking near the edge of the penalty area. Aryee hammered it home off the volley to send the UP crowd into rapture. 

The Maroons employed a 4-5-1 formation with Ayi as the sole striker. The defensive formation frustrated UST to no end. Kenneth Parao came close to pulling a goal back for the Golden Booters but his header sailed wide of goal keeper Tyrone Caballes' far stick in the 61st minute. 

The match was at times ill-tempered with UST's Ronnel Lagrimas cautioned in the second half for a harsh challenge on Jay Eusebio. 

One minute before regulation, Aryee was sent off for excessive complaining after picking up a yellow. He will miss the match against UE on Sunday. 

Both teams had players unavailable due to suspension.  UP's Jinggoy Valmayor, watched from the sidelines as did UST's Ronald Batisla-Ong. 

"What can I say? Volleying the ball is his specialty." said UP coach Anto Gonzales of his striker's second goal.