Salgaocar ease past Calangute Association in a goalfeast

Devendra Murgaonkar scored a hattrick, while, Ronaldo Oliveira recorded a brace for the Goan giants.

Salgaocar FC cruised past Calangute Association in 7-3 hammering in the Goa Professional League match played at the Utorda Sports Complex on Monday.

Calangute coach Agostinho Dias made three changes to his side following a massive defeat at the hands of Dempo SC in his side's last game. U-20 defender Danish Shaikh, striker Mohammed Shashad and Dominic Fernandes made the squad, whereas Salgaocar coach Levino Pereira chose to field the same XI which earned him a point against FC Goa in the previous match.

The Green Brigade started the match on attacking note and completely dominated in the first 15 minutes with some potent attacks but could not manage to find the net.

However, it was Calangute who stunned the former champions in the 16th minute when their new recruit Shashad intercepted a pass from Salgaocar defender Daniel Gomes in the box and shot past custodian S. Rajini Kumar to provide his side with the lead.

Ronaldo Oliveira had a chance to level back for Salgaocar in the 18th minutes when he was in commanding position in the box but the forward's powerful strike was brilliantly blocked by Calangute keeper Shubham Naik.

However, in the 22nd minutes, the Port Town side managed to make it all square when U-20 winger Rollwin Almeida found Devendra Murgaonkar with a low cross, who made a clinical finish from close to make it 1-1 for his side.

Two minutes later, Devendra had another opportunity to put his side ahead when Sanson Pereira curled the ball to the striker but his header missed the target by a whisker.

Another chance went into vain for the Greens in the 28th minutes as Ronaldo's goalbound shot from six-yards was brilliantly pushed for a corner by Calangute custodian Shubham.

Salgaocar finally surged ahead in the 38th minutes when their skipper Mackroy Peixoto made a perfect pass to Devendra in the box who once again made a clinical finish from just inside the box making it 2-1 for the Greens.

Calangute should have levelled back in the dying minutes of the first half when a clearance shot from Sanson deflected off his own teammate and found Dominic in the commanding position but Salgaocar keeper Rajini came with a breathtaking save to deny the equaliser for the Beachside.

Dominic had another opportunity just after changing the ends as he easily overlapped Salgaocar defender Godfray Mascarenhas in the box and sent the ball in the empty net but wing-back Daniel cleared it off the goalline.

At the other end, Calangute keeper once again came with a brilliant save as he made a diving effort to tip Ronaldo's goalbound shot for a corner.

However, in the 51st minutes, Sanson further extended Salgaocar's lead when he easily dribbled past Calangute defenders in the box and shot from close range which had no answer from the Calangute custodian.

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Devendra completed his hattrick within the next two minutes as a well-taken corner by Samuel Costa was headed back to the forward by Saurabh Patil where Devendra made a simple tap-in from close to make it 4-1.

A very next minutes, Dominic reduced the margin for the Beachside when he snatched the ball at the midway line and directly went for a glory from distance which crashed into the goal with Salgaocar keeper completely out of position.

Salgaocar further inflated their lead at the hour mark when Ronaldo made no mistake to slot the ball home from inside the box after getting a low cross from Sanson as the Greens made it 5-2.

Shashad once again reduced the margin for the Beachside in the 74th minutes when he made a brilliant footwork to cut past three defenders in the box and made no mistake to beat the Salgaocar keeper from 6-yards.

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Ronaldo scored his second goal in the  89th minute when he made a darting run from the halfway line, dribbled past a defender in the box and fired a sparkling shot from close which finished in the back of the nylons.

Whereas, Salgaocar substitute Stephen Satarkar hammered the last nail in Calangute's coffin in the added time when he made an easy tap-in to Ronaldo's square pass from the right flank making it 7-3 for his side.