TEAM HERALD
[email protected]
VASCO: Powered by a hat-trick from Brazilian striker Josimar da Silva, Salgaocar Football Club whipped the stuffing out of United Sikkim scoring a 9-0 victory in the 23rd round I-League football match at Tilak Maidan, here. Salgaocar led 3-0 at the lemon break.
The North Eastern boys were not expected to pose much of a challenge to the seasoned Salgaocar team but the way their defence caved in would have made Sikkim co-owner and Indian football great Bhaichung Bhutia, who was seen in deep conversation with Raj Gomes of Salgaocar in the VIP enclosure, think of some drastic changes in the team set up if they are to measure up against the best in Indian football.
With Francis and Randeep controlling the vital midfield, Salgaocar breached the Sikkim defence with ease and were 2-0 up within 15 minutes with their foreign strikers Josimar and Garbiel netting a goal apiece. On the half hour mark, Josimar was brought down inside the box and Luciano stepped up to convert the resultant spot kick.
Sikkim did manage to take the fight to the Salgaocar half but the Salgaocar defence, ably marshaled by their no-nonsense captain Luciano, easily smothered their attempts. And on the few occasions they managed to have a look at the Salgaocar goal, goalkeeper Karanjit came up with some superlative saves to deny them a deserving consolation goal.
The Salgaocar onslaughts continued in the second half and Francis, fed by Josimar on the edge of Sikkim box, had all the time in the world to curl his shot past the harried Rakshit under the Sikkim bar.
Sikkim were caught on the counter seven minutes later with Francis outpacing the defence and beating Rakshit with a smart placement.
Another move initiated deep in the Salgaocar half by the overlapping Luciano, culminated with Josimar giving the finishing touches.
Substitute Marcus Mascarenhas then scored an opportunistic goal, intercepting a back pass with sheer pace and placing the ball in from a very narrow angle.
Francis, who had a splendid outing and got the Most Valuable Player of the Match award for his efforts, put through Josimar to score the eighth goal for his side and himself scored the last goal of the match with a diving header off a flag kick taken by Milagres.
With just three matches left to be played, United Sikkim find themselves at the bottom of the pool with five points adrift of safety. Salgaocar, on the other hand, took their points tally to 30.
