Goa Pro League: Sporting go top with impressive win over Velsao

Philip Odogwu, Rohit Totad, Marcus Mascarenhas and Sachidanand Satelkar scored for the winners.

Sporting Clube de Goa climbed the top of the table with an impressive 4-0 win over Velsao Sports & Cultural Club in the Goa Professional League match played at Duler Stadium on Sunday.

Sporting were leading by two-goal at halftime thanks to goals from Nigerian forward Philip Odogwu in the 18th minute and Rohit Totad in the 31st minutes, whereas Marcus Mascarenhas and Sachidanand Satelkar scored each in the second session to secure all three points from the match.

Velsao coach Jude Barreto made several changes to his side following a defeat against Vasco SC in the last match as Umesh Pujar, Ganesh Thakur, Rohan Rodrigues, Jesloy Moniz and keeper Presley Mascarenhas were brought back in the starting XI. Whereas, Clive Miranda, Allan Peixoto and Gautam were back in the line for Sporting following a 2-0 win over Churchill Brothers SC.

Velsao started the match on an attacking note and came close to scoring in the early minutes as Savelon Cardozo after cutting past Sporting Goa defender went for glory with a powerful shot but straight in the waiting hands of Sporting keeper Ozen Silva.

Though it were Velsao who created the first potent chance of the match, Sporting were the first to find the net in the 11th minute when Nigerian forward Philip Odogwu neatly headed in off Myron Fernandes’ well-taken corner from close to make it 1-0 for the Flaming Orange.

At the other end, Velsao were awarded a freekick just outside the box where Brian found Rohan with a short pass from the set-piece. The U20 lad tried his luck from just outside the box only to see it miss by a few inches.

Sporting also had a chance to double their lead in the 29th minute when Gautam sent a through pass to Rohit Totad who curled it to Philip in the box but the Nigerian forward failed to convert from an easy chance.

However, it was just two more minutes in the match when Sporting managed to inflate their lead through Rohit. Marcus Mascarenhas found the U20 lad with a pin-point through pass who made a clinical finish from inside the box making it 2-0.

Rohit had an opportunity to complete his brace and score third for his team just before halftime as Marcus came with another beautiful through pass to the U20 winger who easily cut past rival keeper Presley Mascarenhas from the first touch but could not make the most off with an empty goal in front of him.

On crossing over, Velsao had a chance to reduce the margin in the 49th minutes when they were awarded a freekick outside the box. Brian went for glory with a direct kick from the set-piece but his goalbound strike was brilliantly punched for a corner by Sporting keeper Ozen.

Two minutes later, Sporting were unlucky not to extend their lead as Philip’s tap off Rohit’s low cross hit the side post before going out for a goal kick. They were once again denied to extend their lead in the 54th minute as this time Marcus made a through pass to substitute Sachidanand Satelkar who easily cut past onrushing rival keeper Presley and sent the ball towards empty goal but Velsao defender Umesh Pujar cleared the danger off the goalline to limit the damage of his side.

However, they could not restrict Sporting for a long as Marcus who was influential from the start of the match himself found the net in the 58th minute. He nicely jelled-up with Sachidanand before smartly finishing the ball in the back of the net making it 3-0.

Sporting added another to their tally in the 66th minute as Marcus came with another defence-splitting through pass to Sachidanand who covered some ground and shot past Velsao keeper Presley to make it 4-0.

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