MAPUSA: An attempted cross by Perryson Rebello turned into a goal as ten-men Sesa Football Academy emerged lucky winners with a 1-0 victory over Sporting Clube de Goa in GFA’s Goa Professional League, round three football match, at Duler Stadium, here, on Wednesday. Neither teams could score in the first session.
Sporting Clube, the defending champions, still without a win, started in the right earnest and were all over the rival territory for the entire match but several missed chances cost them dearly.
On the other hand, Sesa hardly created any promising moves as their strikers were tightly marked by Spaniard centre-back Pablo Zurera. However, luck was at their side as Perryson’s attempted cross from the left flank evaded Sporting Clube goalkeeper Melroy Rodrigues, which proved to be the match-winner in the 78th minute.
Sesa moved to the sixth position in the standings with their first win while their opponents are in eighth spot with two points.
The Flaming Oranje created a scare early on as Beevan D’Mello’s inspiring half volley missed the target by inches. They continued to attack with a couple of corners and put the Sesa defence under tremendous pressure.
Subsequently, Royston D’Souza’s header went inches wide off a Beevan cross. Soon, the duo got involved again as Beevan found his teammate in an ideal position but onrushing Royston couldn’t connect neatly.
At the other end, the academy boys tried hard to push forward but lost the ball easily in midfield while strikers Yogesh Kadam and Alber Gonsalves were not given any openings.
Post resumption, Sesa did look threatening when Alber won the ball from Pablo but Clement Joseph cleared the danger with a timely tackle.
Sporting Clube coach Oscar Bruzon brought in Victorino Fernandes in place of Sumit Ghosh during the break and it did make a difference with the India international’s swift runs and clever passing.
The striker had equalized in the last two outings after coming from the bench. However, it was Sesa that broke the deadlock and stunned their opponents in the 78th minute.
Sesa’s Melwin Fernandes worked tirelessly and set up Perryson through down the left flank. The winger tried to cross the ball to his strikers but instead, it entered the goal from a narrow angle, evading Sporting Clube keeper Melroy in the process, 1-0.
In the dying minutes, Sesa were reduced to ten-men after Melwin received his second yellow card followed by the inevitable red card for a reckless challenge on Sporting Clube’s Joseph Pereira at the edge of the box.
Sporting Clube did have a golden opportunity to equalize when Beevan sent in a dangerous low cross inside the box but it lacked the slightest of touches from Victorino and then, Mauvin.
