TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: A hat-trick by Salgaocar youth product Aslon Oliveira enabled Salgaocar Football Club cruise into the semi-finals of the GFA’s knock-out tournament after a commanding 6-0 win over Goa Velha SC played at Tilak Maidan. Salgaocar led 2-0 at the breather.
Despite being a warm afternoon, Salgaocar started the game in aggressive fashion with the first move as early as the 2nd minute when Karma raced down the right flank and whipped in a dangerous ball but was unable to find a green shirt.
The Greens had their first corner in the 10th minute which also went a begging. Salgaocar slowly gained control of the game as the half wore on using the flanks to good effect. In the 18th minute Surjit Singh broke free on the right and entered the box only to over hit his cross. The Goa Velha goal lived a charmed life when in the 20th minute Freiman’s cross from the right was headed back across the face of the goal by Fulgancio Cardozo and just beyond a diving Milagres Gonsalves.
Goa Velha had their best chance of the match when a dangerous free-kick from the right was headed over the cross bar. A few minutes later, Freiman played a delightful through for Karma who blasted wide with only the keeper at his mercy.
The deadlock was finally broken in the 36th minute when a long ball played from the back found Fulgancio on the left touchline who controlled beautifully to play the ball in the path of an on-rushing Aslon. The latter took a couple of touches before smashing the ball just inside the far post from the top of the box. Salgaocar doubled their lead at the stroke of half time as Rosario played a delightful one-two with Milagres, glided past three Goa Velha defenders and placed calmly beyond an onrushing keeper.
The second half saw Salgaocar continue to dominate possession and create several chances. Karma was withdrawn at the hour mark to have a decent outing in his first appearance in 3 months due to injury.
With 25 minutes left on the clock Salgaocar made it 3-0 thanks to a delightful through ball by Rosario that enabled Milagres break on the left and cross to an unmarked Aslon who needed a second bite of the cherry to score his second of the evening. Milagres was then guilty of wasting a guilt edged chances as a Freiman cross found him completely unmarked but he somehow managed to head over from hand-shaking distance.
Salgaocar kept pressing relentlessly and the pressure bore fruit in the 75th minute when the keeper could only parry a pile drive from Aslon from the top of his box into his own net giving the youngster a well-deserved hat-trick.
Aslon then grabbed a fourth in the 89th minute before Milagres tapped in from close range in injury time to complete the rout.
