Dempo down Calangute to close the gap at THE top in GPL

Kapil Hoble and Beevan D’Mello scored in the gOLDEN eAGLES' victory.

Dempo Sports Club continued their title chase as they eased past Calangute Association 2-0 in the Goa Professional League match played at Duler Stadium earlier today.

With today’s win, Dempo closed the gap to 5 points with league leader Sporting Clube de Goa as they have 34 points from 15 matches, while Calangute remained on the 5th position with 18 points from 15 outings.

Calangute coach Alex Alvares made few changes to his side which lost to Sporting Clube de Goa in the previous round match as Joston Pereira made the comeback, while he also gave the start to the last match scorer Blake Haldankar, goalkeeper Sumit Das and Omkar Satelkar in the starting XI. Whereas Dempo gaffer Samir Naik also made a few changes to his side which defeated FC Bardez in the last match as Nickson Castanha, Velito Cruz and Naveen Mendes were back in the lineup for the Golden Eagles. 

Both the teams equally contested in the entire session, however, Dempo had the upper hand in the possession, while both the sides had a chance each to surge ahead as first, Velito saw his goalbound free-kick from the 40yards was fluently collected by Calangute keeper Sumit. On the counter-attack, Calangute also had a chance to open their account but U-20 striker Omkar shot wide from close. 

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After some end-to-end football at the start of the second session, Dempo finally opened their account in the 60th minutes when Velito’s lob ball was nicely chested to Kapil Hoble by Beevan D’Mello. The latter went for the glory from the edge of the box which crashed into the goal making it 1-0 for the Golden Eagles.

A few minutes later, substitute Joaquim Abranches should have doubled the lead for Dempo when Shallum Pires found him unmarked with a head pass in the box but the striker shot went just over the crossbar. Whereas another opportunity went into the vain for the Golden Eagles in the 75th minutes when substitute Suraj Hadkonkar curled the ball to Beevan in the box but the forward shot into the waiting hands of keeper Sumit.

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After some probing attacks, Dempo doubled their lead in the 82nd minutes when Beevan fierce shot from the top of the box hit the keeper’s hands before going in the back of the nylons for Dempo second goal of the evening.

In the last few minutes of the match, Calangute tried to come back as they came with two quick attacks on the rivals but first Myron shot on the out of position Dempo keeper Agnelo Gomes when he could have easily chipped past to reduce the margin. A few minutes later, Josley Dias had a chance to reduce the margin but his shot from the sharp angle was brilliantly blocked by the keeper Agnelo.