Salgaocar down Calangute in the GPL

U-20 Devendra Murgaonkar shone in Salgaocar’s win with a brace.

Salgaocar FC secured a fluent 3-1 win over Calangute Association in the Goa Professional League match played at Duler Stadium earlier today.

Today’s win helped them to climb into the top half of the league table as they stand 5th with 17 points from 12 matches, while Calangute has a point more than defending champions from 13 matches.

Salgaocar coach Norbert Gonsalves made only one change to his side which drubbed FC Bardez by seven goals in the last match as Samuel Costa replaced James Fernandes in the starting XI, whereas Calangute coach Alex Alvares made three changes in the playing XI following their 2-2 draw against FC Goa in the last round match as keeper Jason D’Mello was back in the starting XI, while Omkar Satelkar and Sanjay Vengurlekar also found a place in the lineup.

The match started with an end-to-end play as both the teams equally contested but neither of the sides came with a potent attempt in the first 20 minutes.

However, in the very next minutes, Salgaocar midfielder Mackroy Peixote fired a powerful shot from the top of the box but Calangute keeper Jason came with a diving save to keep his side safe. A few minutes later, Calangute also came close to scoring when Joston Pereira found Domnic Fernandes in the box but the mideo shot wide from close.

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At the half-hour mark, Salgaoacr finally surged ahead through Mackroy who shot past keeper Jason after receiving a cut back from Nigerian striker Joel Sunday to make it 1-0 for his side.

five minutes later, Sunday had a chance to double their lead when U-20 striker Devendra Murgaonkar set up the Nigerian forward with just keeper to beat but his shot was bravely blocked by keeper Jason.

However, in the very next minutes, Keeper Jason had no answer to Devendra’s tap-in from point-blank range off Gilbert Oliveira’s square pass from inside the box as Salgaocar took the 2-0 lead in the 36th minutes.

The fans were hardly settled down from the last goal when Devendra once again brought them on their feet as he made it 3-0 for his side with a brilliant goal from inside the box after receiving a through pass from Sanson Pereira.

Like in the first session, both the teams equally contested in the starting minutes of the second half, however, it was Salgaocar who once again came close to scoring in the 69th minutes when substitute Clencio Pinto cut past keeper Jason and sent the ball into the empty goal but Calangute Mayur Shelar came with a goalline clearance to limit the damage. A few minutes later, Sunday saw his powerful strike rebounded off the crossbar.

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Already down by three goals, Calangute suffered another blow when their midfielder Joston was sent off following his second bookings of the match for a reckless tackle on Clencio.

In the added time, Salgaoacar keeper S. Rajini Kumar came in the limelight for the first time in the match when he unnecessarily brought down Calangute defender Koume Joseph in the box to give away the penalty. Domnic stepped up and scored from the spot to reduce the margin for the Beachside.