Salgaocar maul AIFF, go top
HERALD CORRESPONDENT
MARGAO, DEC 18
Salgaocar Sports Club exposed the gulf in standards with a 5-0 win over AIFF XI in a fourth round encounter in I-League at Nehru Stadium, Fatorda on Saturday. Salgaocar were leading 4-0 at half time.
Salgaocar who were superior in all the departments of the game went into the offensive from the start. They shot into the lead in the 7th minute when man-of-the-match, Ryuji Sueoka sent a defence-splitting pass to Ghanian Yusif Yakubu, inside the rival penalty area, but his try deflected off AIFF keeper Jagroop Singh. Yakubu made no mistake in taking good advantage of the rebound as he placed the ball to the far corner of the net.
AIFF too tried their level best but faded away after Salgaocar outplayed them. Their two earlier attempts by Jewel Raja Shaikh were thwarted by Salgaocar keeper Karanjit Singh. Eight minutes later, Japanese import Ryuji Sueoka doubled the lead with a snap shot after he received a through pass from Yusif Yakubu.
Salgaocar showed determination and were rewarded in the 17th minute when striker Anthony Barbosa from the flank sent a pass for Yakubu, who beat his marker with body feints and punished the rival keeper with a deft placement.
Salgaocar put the match beyond AIFF’s reach after Ryuji combined well with Yakubu and the former beat the rival keeper with a placement to register his brace in the 33rd minute. Salgaocar wasted a golden opportunity to inflate their tally when midfielder Gilbert Oliveira was brought down by AIFF defender Shouvik Ghosh inside the penalty area late in the first half. The resultant spot kick taken by Yakubu was saved by the AIFF keeper.
Crossing over, Salgaocar enjoyed a lion share of exchanges as their opponents struggled to catch up.
AIFF stumbled at the rival goal after Jibon Singh blasted wide from close range. Salgaocar created many openings and Yakubu Yusif, Gilbert Oliveira and Ryuji Sueoka missed many scoring chances.
Nigerian Ekene Ikenwa came from the bench to score the fifth goal in injury time with a smart header off a floater from Cajetan Fernandes on the right.
The win helped Salgaocar maintain their all-win record and a place at the top with 12 points from four matches while AIFF XI remained with just one point.
