Salgaocar FC edge Calangute Association in Goa Pro League

The Beachside club have now suffered consecutive defeats in GPL. 

Salgaocar FC beat Calangute Association by a solitary goal in the Goa Professional League match on Wednesday. The all-important goal was scored by Daryl Costa in the 33rd minute for the Greens. 

Salgaocar coach Levino Pereira made numerous changes to his side after a 1-1 draw against Sesa FA in the previous match. Stephen Alvares, Akram Yadwad, Ribhav Sardesai, Daryl Costa, Shawn Pereira, Ashnoy Colaco and Malappa Bizzargi made starts for the Greens. On the other hand, Aniket Thakur, Ganesh Thakur, keeper Presley Mascarenhas and Veron Pereira were the new faces in the Calangute lineup. They had lost to YC Manora in their opening match.

[KH_ADWORDS type="4" align="center"][/KH_ADWORDS]

After sloppy play in their first match, Salgaocar showed the urgency to score goals right from the start. They nearly scored in the second minute when right-back Stephen nearly found Daryl with a long cross. However, Calangute Association goalkeeper Presley came out of the box to clear the danger.

The Beachside club also had a chance to surge ahead in the 19th minute when Ganesh darted into the box and sent a curling cross to Frazer Viegas. However, Salgaocar custodian Jason D’Melo parried the ball to safety.

But, Salgaocar kept up their tempo and once again came close to finding the net. Malappa found Sidharth Kundaikar, who cut past a defender and fired a shot on goal, but missed the target narrowly.

Salgaocar finally managed to surge ahead in the 33rd minute when a long pass from Stephen found Daryl, who made no mistake. He chipped the ball over Calangute’s onrushing keeper Presley to give his side a 1-0 lead. The rest of the first half witnessed an end-to-end action. Calangute looked most likely to score, but failed to find the equalizer.

[KH_RELATED_NEWS title="Related News |ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW"][/KH_RELATED_NEWS]

Calangute came out stronger in the second half and attacked relentlessly, but could not find the net. Their coach Valentine Ezeugo made four substitutions in the second half bringing in Chaitan Dabholkar, Jesloy Moniz, Jovito Fernandes and Harshad Naik. However, neither managed to make the sort of impact Calangute were looking for.

Their best opportunity to equalize came in the 72nd minute when Chaitan combined with Ganesh. Chaitan then went clear on goal with just the keeper to beat. However, Salgaocar defender Saurabh Patil made a timely clearance. At the other end, Salgaocar’s Daryl should have doubled the lead, when a long throw-in from Stephen deflected off Calangute Association defender Melvin Lobo and rolled to him in the box. However, once again, Presley came off his line to thwart the forward in a one-on-one situation.

For more football updates, follow Khel Now on Twitter, Instagram and join our community on Telegram.