10-man ONGC defeat Sporting Goa to book AWES Cup semi-final berth

The Oilmen topped Group B with nine points.

Ghanaian Enock Cudjoe scored in the stoppage-time as ONGC FC edged past Sporting Clube de Goa by a 2-1 margin in the AWES Cup played at Tilak Maidan, Vasco, earlier today.

The Oilmen’s coach Caetano Pinho continued to field the same playing XI from the last win against Sesa FA, whereas, Sporting gaffer Mateus Costa made only one change to his side which held Gokulam Kerala FC in the last match as Marcus Mascarenhas made into the roster for the Flaming Orange.

ONGC were the dominant side in the first half as they controlled the match from the start. They almost opened their tally in the 8th minute when their Ghanaian striker Enock Cudjoe scored attempted a spectacular strike from outside the box after receiving a clearance from his teammate Aula Kanheya but the linesman ruled it out due to it being offside. Sunil Lahor missed a sitter in the 16th minute when Cudjoe layoff him off Himanshu Patil’s low cross but the winger's shot went sky high from point-blank range. The very next minute, the Oilmen wasted another chance to take the lead as this time Cudjoe came with a fine cross to Himanshu, who failed to connect from six-yards. Few minutes later, Sporting keeper Melroy Fernandes came with a brilliant block to deny Ghanaian striker Cudjoe in a one-on-one situation. After wasting many opportunities, the Oilmen finally managed to break the deadlock in the 43rd  minutes when Cudjoe made a defence-splitting through pass to Sunil in the box who made a cut back to the onrushing Jagdeep Singh. The midfielder attempted a driving effort to put the ball in the back of the net, making it 1-0 for the Mumbai based club.

In between these, Sporting had a couple of chances but on both the occasions, the ball went straight into the waiting hands of ONGC keeper Bilifang Narzary. Sporting had one last look at the goal just before the half-time as Quan Gomes went for glory from distance but ONGC keeper Narzary nicely tipped it over the crossbar.

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Unlike in the first session, Sporting started the second half on an attacking note and created a series of attempts, but they were all aimless and lacked an end-product.

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At the other end, the Oilmen had a great opportunity when Jagdeep nicely curled the ball to Sunil who nicely chested it down to strike from just inside the box but custodian Melroy came off his line to clear the danger. Sporting continued penetrating the rival’s defence and finally found the equaliser in the 72nd minute when Marcus found Victorino Fernandes with a beautiful pass who covered some ground and shot past ONGC shot-stopper to make it 1-1 for his side.

Ten minutes later, ONGC were reduced to ten-men after their defender Aula elbowed Glan Martins. Referee Prasad Surlekar took advise from the linesman before showing a direct red card to the defender. Despite having a man short, ONGC managed to break Sporting’s defence in added time when Siddharth Nayak brilliantly curled a free-kick into the box where Ghanaian striker Cudjoe smartly headed the ball home to notch all three points from the match.