JINGGOY Valmayor bailed University of the Philippines out with a stoppage time goal to savage a 3-3 draw against defending champion Far Eastern University and seize the lead in the UAAP Season 77 football tournament on Thursday at the FEU-Diliman pitch.
Valmayor scored on a free kick to give the Fighting Maroons a point.
"That's what can you expect from him," said UP coach Anto Gonzales on Valmayor, who has 11 goals this season.
"I think, we put a lot of pressure sa kanila (FEU) lalo na when they went down to 10 players."
The Maroons now have 21 points, a point clear of second-running La Salle.
Jess Melliza scored on the penalty kick in the 35th and Noli Chavez struck in the 55th to give FEU a 3-2 lead.
"Yung result is just secondary to me. I'm not really happy right now, especially in the second half. I was happy the way we played in the first half. I'll take the draw, but more than anything else, we need to improve," said Gonzales.
Nicolas Ferrer scored on a diving header in the 13th minute to open the scoring for the Tamaraws, but UP equalized as Valmayor scored on a header in the 25th minute, soaring over Audie Menzie, Justin Calamba and FEU keeper Patrick Rallos.
Feb Baya converted a header from a Carlos Monfort assist to give the Maroons a 2-1 lead in the 29th minute.
Earlier, Lawrence Colina scored on two penalty kicks as National University kept within reach of FEU with 17 points with a 3-1 victory over last place Adamson.
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