Flaming Oranje edge past Salgaocar 2-1 in hard-fought match
MAPUSA: Sporting Clube de Goa registered a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Salgaocar Football Cup to enter the finals of GFA Super Cup football tournament at Duler Stadium, here, Mapusa, Friday. Sporting led 1-0 at the breather.
The teams were down to 10-man each in the final five minutes.
Salgaocar enjoyed the lion’s share of ball possession in the first session but it was Sporting who struck just before the lemon break through Spaniard Juan Pena.
Salgaocar started attackingly and could have surged ahead in the first minute after striker Milagres Gonsalves made a dangerous run inside the Sporting box but the latter’s attempt was blocked by Sporting goalkeeper Saurav Chakraborthy and the ball fell to Salgaocar’s Marcus Mascarenhas, who however, ballooned over with an open goal.
Subsequently, Sporting’s first chance came in the 12th minute after midfielder Valerio Rodrigues sent in a dangerous long ball to Dawson Fernandes, whose chip over onrushing Salgaocar goalkeeper Vinay Singh missed the mark narrowly.
Salgaocar created better chances but were unlucky in the 36th minute when two-back-to-back attempts from Marcus and Augustin hit the crosspiece.
With Sporting lacking sharpness upfront, coach Oscar Bruzon brought in speedy Victorino Fernandes in place of U-20 Xavier Dias. The move put Salgaocar off-balance and just before the lemon break, Sporting broke the deadlock after Pena hammered in past goalkeeper Vinay from a narrow angle off a perfect cross from Valerio.
Sporting went on the offensive in the second session and doubled their lead in the 50th minute after Dawson finished with an adroit placement off a pass from Nigerian playmaker Kalu Ogba.
At the other end, Salgaocar tried to regroup and were given a life-line two minutes later, after Sporting’s Pratesh Shirodkar handled the ball in the penalty area but they failed to make the most of it as Rahul Kumar shot wide from the spot-kick.
However, Salgaocar pulled one back in the 80th minute after substitute Josimar Da Silva’s rasping shot deflected off Sporting defender Clemente Joseph and beat goalkeeper Saurav.
Four minutes later, just when Salgaocar were building up some promising moves in search of the equalizer, Sporting’s Adil Khan fell down ostensively due to an injury while Salgaocar’s Augustin continued with the game which only triggered protest from Sporting. Dawson confronted Augustin and in the process, the last named pushed Dawson. The game came to a standstill for nearly three minutes and referee Chandrasekhar Shirodkar flashed the yellow, the second to Augustin which was followed by the inevitable red card.
With a minute left, Sporting were also reduced to 10-man after Mackroy Peixoto was cautioned for the second time and was sent-off for holding back Salgaocar’s Godfrey Silva.
Dempo will take on Sesa Football Academy in the second semi-finals on Saturday.
