Goa Pro League: Salgaocar, Dempo share spoils after goalless draw

Both teams failed to find the net on Monday evening.

The Goa Pro League witnessed its first goalless match of the season as Dempo Sports Club and Salgaocar FC played out a stalemate at Duler Stadium on Monday.

Rollwin Almeida made the first start for Salgaocar, while Ribhav Sardesai was back in the starting XI for the Greens. Dempo tactician Samir Naik also made the same number of changes, as forward Beevan D’Mello and defender Shubham Malvankar were back in the lineup for the Golden Eagles.

Dempo never came close to scoring in the first half, while Salgaocar had few chances to take the lead. In one of these, Rollwin nicely collected the ball and made a swift run from the halfway line, but failed to make the most from an early opportunity.

They had another chance in the 18th minute. Salgaocar defender Saurabh Patil made a long clearance which landed to their forward Aaron Bareto, but Dempo keeper Melroy came out of the box to clear the danger. Whereas, the Golden Eagles were lucky not to concede in the added minutes of the half, as a fine cross from Rollwin setup Selwyn Miranda in the box. He danced past two opponents but saw his strike rebound off the post.

On crossing over, it was completely different Dempo as they came out all guns buzzing from the word go. The first attack came within the first five minutes of the second half. Beevan sent a brilliant through pass to Richard Cardoz in the box, but Salgaocar defender Daniel Gomes came up with a timely clearance to keep his side safe.

Two minutes later, Salgaocar almost took the lead when their forward Aaron made a short pass to Saeesh Halarnkar in the box. He dribbled past two defenders but Kirtikesh made a timely interception, which was later cleared by Dempo defender Shallum Pires.

At the other end, the Golden Eagles came up with a swift attack from the right flank. Richard initiated the move with a through pass to substitute Suraj Hadkonkar, who released the ball to well-positioned Beeavan at the top of the box. The forward later made a through pass to Kirtikesh Gadekar in the box, but the midfielder’s shot found the side-netting.

Dempo had another great opportunity in the 74th minute when Richard once again came up with a fine cross to Edwin Viegas in the box, but he could not connect from close range. Dempo were once again unlucky in the dying minutes of the match, as their protests for a penalty against Salgaocar defender Stephen Alvares for handling the ball were not upheld by the referee.

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