MAPUSA: An injury time goal from Nigerian defender Kouame Joseph helped Calangute Association to hold Guardian Angel Sports Club to a 1-1 draw in the Goa Professional League match, organised by Goa Football Association, played at Duler Stadium, here on Tuesday.
Nigerian forward Yakubu Mohammed scored in the early second half to give Angels the lead.
Calangute coach Alex Alvares included Newton Azavedo in the starting eleven following his brilliant performance coming off the bench in the last match where they defeated Vasco SC, while midfielder Josley Dias was also back in the starting XI.
The Curchorem side on the other hand, made only one change to their side which downed Corps of Signals in the last match as Ghanaian striker Abel Hammond was back in the starting XI.
Calangute should have surged ahead in the 4th minute when Bersal Viegas found unmarked Leslee Britto in front of the empty goal but the forward headed wide from close.
Angels also wasted an easy chance to go into the lead when their Nigerian striker Yakubu Mohammed failed to keep his header on target from close off Nicholas Rodrigues’ well-taken corner.
Calangute once again came close to scoring in the 26th minute when Domnic Fernandes dribbled past a defender in his run from the halfway line and went for glory from the top of the box but his sparkling shot went just over the crossbar.
The rest of the session witnessed an end-to-end affair but both the teams failed to break the deadlock until the half-time.
Angels’ defender Nicolau Colaco almost put his side ahead when he tried his luck from the distance but Calangute keeper Jason D’Mello made a diving effort to push his scorching strike for a corner.
However, Keeper Jason’s diving efforts were not enough to stop Yakubu’s powerful strike from the top of the box which put the Curchorem side into the 1-0 lead in the 53rd minute.
Calangute regrouped and came up numerous attacks on the opponents but most of their moves were neutralised by the Angels’ last line before entering the danger zone, whereas they had one clear-cut chance in the 75th minute when a well-taken corner from Bersal was headed on the goal by defender Amar Halankar but the Angels keeper Ram Sroop easily collected the same.
Calangute defender Kouame who was given the attacking responsibility after conceding a goal found the net in the added time with a header off Domnic’s perfect corner to rescue a point for his side from the hard-fought match.
