MAPUSA: Salgaocar Football Club came twice from behind to hold Sporting Clube de Goa to a 2-2 draw in the GFA’s U-20 Taca Goa League match, played at Duler Stadium, Mapusa on Sunday.
At halftime the teams were locked 1-1.
Both the sides took on the match on equal footing keeping the rival keepers on their toes.
In the early moments of the match, Stephen Satardekar had a glorious chance to give Salgaocar FC lead however he blasted the ball over, having only the keeper to beat.
Minutes later, Sporting’s Harshad Naik sent a curling corner towards Daryl Costa whose header was neatly kept away by Salgaocar custodian Antonio Da Silva.
Daryl Costa once again got into the attacking mode in the 18th minute when on collecting the ball from Shawn Noronha he unleashed a powerful half-volley which was once again kept away by the diving Salgaocar keeper at the expense of a corner.
After several failed attempts, Sporting finally managed to break the deadlock in the 35th minute when Akeraj Martins on getting hold of the ball on the right side of the 18-yard box, intelligently flicked the ball which entered the Salgaocar nets after brushing the hands of keeper Antonio, 1-0.
In the next minute itself the Oranges could have doubled their lead however Joel Colaco’s firm header off a corner banged the Salgaocar upright and bounced back into play.
In the 40th minute, Mahesh Kumar ran down the right flank and flashed the ball dangerously across the Sporting goal, only to see his strikers a wee bit late to connect it home.
The Green Brigade went into the breather with a sigh of relief as substitute Devendra Murgaonkar came with the precious equalizer in the injury time when he fired in Lalit Tariyal’s through pass, 1-1.
Crossing over, Salgaocar were reduced to ten men after Karan Shirodkar was given marching orders by the referee for a harsh tackle on Harshad Naik.
In the 60th minute Akeraj Martins on collecting a loose ball charged into the Salgaocar danger zone with two defenders in hot pursuit, but it was the keeper Antonio who came with a brave save to ward off the danger.
At the other end, Sporting keeper Sherwin Da Cunha too proved up for the task when he brilliantly thwarted Lalit from scoring from inside the danger zone.
In the 70th minute, Daryl Costa gave Sporting the lead when he did a fine job to beat his marker Daniel Gomes and then slide the ball into the goal through the legs of the keeper, 2-1.
Sporting had an open chance to further inflate the lead in the 83rd minute when Daryl Costa brilliantly broke the offside trap and charged into the Salgaocar danger zone and beat the keeper as well, however defender Kaushik Negi did a splendid job to block his strike which hit the top post before rebounding back into play.
When it looked Sporting were heading for a win, Salgaocar came with a dramatic equalizer through substitute Divyansh Sudan S who headed home Mahesh Kumar’s pass, 2-2.
