Rejuvenated Panjim Footballers blank in-form Guardian Angel in GPL

Egyptian midfielder Fady Riad played an important role in the capital city side’s victory.

Panjim Footballers eased past Guardian Angels Sports Club by a 4-0 margin in the Goa Professional League match played at Duler Stadium earlier today.

With this win, Panjim moved up by two places to 8th with 18 points from 19 matches, whereas Angels continued 3rd place with 33 points from 21 matches.

Angels who had defeated FC Goa in the last match had only one change to their side as their coach Riston Rodrigues gave chance to Ghanaian striker Abel Hammond  in the starting XI, whereas Panjim coach Savio Vaz made three changes to their side which lost to Vasco SC in the previous round match as Clive Miranda, Velton D’Souza and Snedden Rodrigues were back in the line up for the Capital city side.   

Angels were lucky not to concede in the very 2nd minutes when Snedden’s cross was intercepted by Angel U-20 defender Mizio Peixoto which hit the crossbar before going out for a corner.

After some probing attacks, Panjim finally succeeded to take the lead in the 11th minutes when their defender Clive smartly headed-in from close off Egyptian midfielder Fady Riad’s perfect cross from the left.

Energized by a goal, Panjim doubled their lead in the 23rd minutes when Egyptian Fady once again made a superb cross to Snedden in the box who smartly headed at the far post to make it 2-0 for his side.

Five minutes later, Angel had a chance to reduce their margin when Nigerian striker Yakubu Mohammed cut past a defender and shot on the goal but Panjim keeper Gurpreet Singh nicely blocked it for a safety.

Panjim continued their good form in the match and came with their third goal of the match in the 32nd minutes as this time striker Snedden’s sparkling strike from the top of the box finished in the top corner making it 3-0 for the Capital city side.  

The rest of the session witnessed Angels trying hard to get back into the match but Panjim defence gave no space for the opponents until the half-time whistle. 

Angels coach Riston brought in experienced midfielder Nicholas Rodrigues in the starting minutes of the second session and his presence sharpened them in attacking as they marched many time on the rivals. In one of these, Angels almost reduced their margin in the 57th minutes when Clifton Dias headed in the frame off substitute Nicholas’ corner but Panjim keeper Gurpreet made a diving effort to push it for a corner.

Angels had a golden opportunity to reduce their margin at the hour mark when Panjim defender Clive brought down Aniston Fernandes in the box to give away the penalty kick but substitute Nicholas shot wide from the spot.  

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Snedden had a great chance to complete his hattrick in the 79th minutes when he cut past two defenders after receiving a diagonal pass from Fady but saw his strike rebound off the side post. 

However, in the 90th minutes, Panjim substitute winger Sachidanand Satelkar hammered the last nail in Angels' coffin when he snatched the ball from rival defender Sanwil D’costa and calmly finished the ball in the back of the nylons to make it 4-0 for the Panjim side.