Reporting note: this article draws on tiebreakertimes.com.ph; Score808 Live provides the summary and editorial framing.
Jelan Pabuaya scored twice as Far Eastern University defeated University of the Philippines 4-1 at the UP Diliman Football Stadium on Wednesday, keeping the Lady Tamaraws on top of the UAAP Season 89 Collegiate Women's Football standings. The FEU UAAP women's football result — a 21st consecutive win — left the Morayta side on 24 points with a plus-24 goal difference.
The match followed an awkward pattern for the leaders: UP struck first, FEU needed until after the restart to level, and the scoreline only opened up in the final ten minutes. The Fighting Maroons had already secured a Final Four place before kickoff, so the defeat cost them position rather than qualification.
How UP's early lead dissolved after the restart
Erissa Rivas put UP ahead in the 26th minute, finishing the move that gave the Fighting Maroons the opening goal against the run of the standings. FEU's response came from Judie Arevalo, who found the equaliser in the 58th minute.
The source report describes Arevalo's goal as both the equaliser and the go-ahead strike, and it does not specify the minute of Pabuaya's first goal. What is clear is the sequence of the closing stretch: Pabuaya completed her brace in the 80th minute, and Knazeya Abellar sealed the result in the 86th.
That gap between the 58th and 80th minutes is where the game was actually decided. UP held a share of the match for more than half an hour after the interval, and FEU's separation only arrived once the second half wore into its final third.
What the FEU UAAP women's football win changes in the table
FEU remains first on 24 points with a plus-24 goal difference, and the streak now stands at 21 matches. The result mirrored the first-round meeting between the two schools on September 26, when the Tamaraws won 4-0.
The more consequential line in the standings belongs to De La Salle University. The Lady Booters sit second on 19 points, and this result confirmed their twice-to-beat advantage for the season — a cushion that matters more than the margin at the top, because it protects La Salle in the semifinal round regardless of how the remaining eliminations finish.
UP stays third on 12 points with a goal difference of zero. The Fighting Maroons' semifinal berth was already assured earlier in the day, when Ateneo de Manila University and University of Santo Tomas drew 1-1.
Let Dimzon's standard and the development question
Head coach Let Dimzon framed the win as a byproduct rather than the objective, and her comments point at a team measuring itself against something other than the scoreboard.
"I always set it with the players that they always set the standard when it comes to games; the wins are just a bonus," Dimzon said.
"But during the game also, I said we need to get better and improve the quality of our play. That is our main objective — in our remaining games, to keep focusing on the development of our play."
Read against the match itself, that is a fair self-assessment. A side that concedes first at home to the third-placed team, then needs 22 minutes after levelling to pull away, is winning on squad depth and finishing rather than on sustained control. Dimzon's public emphasis on quality of play is a way of naming that gap without naming a culprit.
UP's semifinal place and the Saturday fixtures
FEU returns to the same venue on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. against Ateneo, which is still chasing a Final Four spot. UP faces fellow semifinalist De La Salle at 4:30 p.m., a match that will test the Fighting Maroons against the team holding the twice-to-beat protection.
For FEU, the remaining eliminations are about protecting a 24-point total and a goal difference that no other side is close to matching. For UP, third place and a zero goal difference make the semifinal path considerably less forgiving.
The original report was published by tiebreakertimes.com.ph.
