Goa Pro League: Guardian Angel edge Panjim Footballers

Beneston Barretto scored the only goal of the game.

Guardian Angel Sports Club edged past Panjim Footballers by a solitary goal in the Goa Pro League match played at Duler Stadium on Thursday.

Guardian Angel had a few new faces in their lineup as Basanta Singh, Denvil Fernandes and William Niasso found the place in the starting XI. On the other hand, Panjim Footballers coach Thome Alex Alvares fielded most of the senior players from last season.

Panjim Footballers dictated the first session with continues attacks against Guardian Angel. It took just four minutes to come with the first potent attack of the match. Akram Yadwad made a long pass to Lloyd Cardozo in the box. He had the best chance to take his side into the lead, but GASC defender William Niasso made a timely clearance.

Panjim had another opportunity to take the lead. Akash Sanadi nicely curled the ball to Joyson Gauncar in the box but the midfielder failed to put power in his header and opposition keeper Pratheesh Veettil easily collected the ball.

A few minutes later, Panjim earned a free-kick just outside the box. Akash tried his luck with a direct kick, but once again Veettil pushed the goal-bound effort for a corner.

They once again came close to scoring in the 24th minute. Chandan Gawas made a square pass to Lloyd who missed an easy opportunity to slot in from close range. At the other end, GASC scored on the counter-attack.

A long pass from William was brilliantly controlled by Beneston Barretto in the box. He covered some ground before blasting it into the goal to put his side into the lead at half-time.

Panjim had the best chance to level the terms just after crossing the ends as Chandan made a short pass to Lloyd in the box but the forward saw his goalbound strike nicely blocked by Angels keeper Veettil for a corner.

GASC also had an opportunity to double their lead. Denvil was in A commanding position in the box to find the net, but his strike was acrobatically blocked by Panjim keeper Preston Rego. The ball rolled to Akash, whose shot deflect off an opposing defender and went out for a corner.

They had another chance to extend their lead. Barretto setup Basanta with a beautiful through pass, but the forward failed to make the most of the opportunity with just the keeper to beat. Panjim tried hard to find the equalizer until the final whistle, but the GASC defence stood tall to clear every danger.

Panjim had one last chance in the dying minutes of the match. Midfielder Akash setup Chandan with just the keeper to beat, but Veettil once again rescued his side with a diving block save.

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