Sporting rally to beat Salgaocar

Referee sends off three, cautions six

TEAM HERALD

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MAPUSA: Ten-man Sporting Clube de Goa rallied to beat nine-man Salgaocar Football Club 3-1 in a 20th round I-League football match at Duler Stadium, here, Wednesday. Salgaocar led 1-0 at half time.

The teams started with three foreigners each. Salgaocar fielded Nigerian Gabriel Obatola and Brazillian Josimar Da Silva upfront with Singaporean John Wilkinson playing behind the duo.

Sporting’s Spanish coach Oscar Bruzon fielded two of his countrymen, Juan Pena in the striking role and Angel Berlanga in central defence. Nigerian playmaker Kalu Ogba controlled the midfield.

Referee Arun Pillai had a busy evening as he flashed three red and six yellow cards. Bookings began in the second minute after Obatola was cautioned for his dangerous challenge on Pena. Then, Salgaocar’s Agustin Fernandes in the 20th, Sporting’s Pratesh Shirodkar in the 22nd, Salgaocar’s Fulgencio Cardozo and Randeep Singh in the 30th and 31st minutes respectively, were booked for committing needless fouls.

Salgaocar dominated right from the start and surged ahead in the 38th minute after Agustin’s rasping shot deflected off Sporting’s Kalu Ogba before beating Sporting goalkeeper Bruno Colaco.

Two minutes later, Salgaocar’s Francis Fernandes could have doubled the lead but the India international’s rasping shot went inches wide.

Just before the lemon break, Obatola’s top of the box right-footer sailed inches over.

After resumption, Sporting made two changes as Stephene Barreto replaced Rojen Singh while Victorino Fernandes came in place of Mackroy Peixoto.

Salgaocar continued attacking and had a golden opportunity to double the lead but Obatola shot wide with only goalkeeper Bruno at his mercy in the 52nd minute.

Salgaocar were reduced to 10-man in the 60th minute after goalkeeper Karanjit received a direct red for bringing down Victorino in the danger zone and the referee awarded Sporting a penalty. Pena made no mistake in slotting the spot kick past substitute goalkeeper Pawan Kumar.

Four minutes later, referee Pillai was the centre of attention yet again as he directly red carded Josimar and Sporting’s Joyner Lourenco for an off-the-ball incident. Josimar kicked Joyner, and the last named went on to do the same to the Brazillian. 

Then onwards, Sporting utilized the numerical advantage and enjoyed the lion’s share of ball possession but the Flaming Oranje could hardly get past the rival defence line.

In the 88th minute, Sporting could have scored the match-winner after Kalu cleverly set up unmarked Victorino inside the box but Agustin made a timely tackle to deny Victorino an easy chance.

However, after repeated attacks, Victorino was fortunate to get another chance in the 90th minute and he made no mistake in scoring from a goalmouth melee to put his team ahead.

Then, Berlanga was cautioned for pulling the jersey of Salgaocar substitute Milagres Gonsalves.

In the added time, Kalu beautifully chipped over the rival custodian to make it 3-1.

After the game, Obatola and Berlanga had a heated argument and the team officials had to separate the duo.

Salgaocar’s Agustin Fernandes was adjudged Most Valuable Player for his performance.

Sporting have collected 26 points from 20 matches while Salgaocar are with 20 points from the same number of matches.

Oscar Bruzon was a happy man, having defeated their rivals in both the legs and the Goa Pro League as well. “It was a beautiful game of two different halves and we were definitely the better side and utilized the numerical advantage well. We are more motivated to beat another Goan team now,” said Bruzon whose team will clash with Dempo in their next fixture.

Salgaocar coach, David Booth was very disappointed to lose the game from a winning situation. “We were winning 1-0 and Karanjit’s red card changed the game. I can’t comment on the refereeing as I didn’t see both the sending off incidents properly,” stated Booth.