10-man Salgaocar share the spoils with Velsao SCC to climb atop

Ravish Narvekar

Salgaocar forward Mark Carvalho was sent off in the 62nd minute following double bookings in the match.

A completely drab football was witnessed at Duler Stadium in the match between Salgaocar FC and Velsao Sports and Cultural Club as they played out a goalless draw in the Goa Professional League on Thursday evening.

However, even with the shared points the Greens managed to climbed to the top of the table with 18 points from nine matches. Velsao, on the other hand, remained at the ninth place with eight points from the same number of outings.

Joasle Fernandes and Steflon D'Costa were the two changes for Salgaocar who defeated Sporting Clube de Goa in the last match. Whereas, Velsao coach Eban Mesquita brought in keeper Rahul KK, Velroy Carvalho and K Vinoth in the starting XI. Velsao had suffered a 5-4 defeat at the hands of Dempo SC in their last-round encounter.

It was a scrappy football from both ends in the first session of the match where both sides were restricted to midfield play. Velsao were more focused on counterattacks but miss passing in the final third restricted them from testing the rival keeper Jason D'Mello. Whereas Greens tried to be a dominant side with a possessional play where they had a chance to take the lead in the 20th minute when Ribhav Sardesai made a through pass to Steflon in the box but Velsao keeper Rahul left his line to collect the ball before Salgaocar forward could do any damage.

Velsao should have surged ahead at the half-hour mark when a short corner by Imran Khan found unmarked Sheldon Pereira who darted inside the box and sent a low pass to Vinoth in the goalmouth but the forward could not convert an easy opportunity into the goal. A few minutes later, Vinoth had another opportunity to make up for his earlier error as an inch-perfect through pass from Imran set up the forward in the box but this time he saw his goalbound strike blocked by Salgaocar defender Saurabh Patil at the cost of a corner.

At the other end, Fhezer Gomes made a short pass to Mark Carvalho at the top of the box in the 39th minute where the Salgaocar forward danced his way past a couple of opponents to enter the box but before he could pull the trigger from close, a Velsao defender cleared the danger on time. Mark came with another swift run in the box just before the halftime whistle as he once again made great footwork to beat Salgaocar defender Saurabh before going for glory from just inside the box only to see it miss by a whisker.

Unlike the first session, the match resumed after the breather on an attacking note as both sides raided each other on numerous occasions. Salgaocar custodian Jason who had comfortable first 45 minutes, had to rescue his side in the starting minutes of the second session. Velsao's Vinoth easily dribbled past a Salgaocar defender in the box but his fierce strike from inside the 6-yard box was brilliantly blocked by Jason. He once again came with a breathtaking save as he excellently parried away Vinoth's half-volley from just outside the box in the 55th minute.

Salgaocar forward Mark had another opportunity to put his side ahead in the very next minute as Beckham Dias sent a low cross to the forward in the box but this time also he could not make the most of the opportunity. A few minutes later, Mark cut past a few opponents and found Beckham at the top of the box who tried his luck with a stiff grounder but Velsao keeper Rahul dived to his left to deny the rival. Beckham came with another perfect cross in the box to Antush Moniz but the substitute midfielder shot wide with just rival keeper Rahul at his stake.

Salgaocar suffered a big blow when they were reduced to 10 men following marching orders to their forward Mark in the 62nd minute. Antush sent a perfect cross in the box to find Mark near the first post where the forward instead of connecting his header, sent the ball into the net with help of his hands. Referee Deepraj Sangelkar quickly disallowed the goal and showed a second yellow card for Mark who was already booked in the first half followed by a red card.

At the other end, Velsao skipper Sheldon wasted an easy chance to put his side into the lead in the 72nd minute as Imran snatched the ball from Salgaocar defender Samuel Costa and sent a through pass to Sheldon the in the box but the midfielder shot wide from close with just opponent keeper Jason to beat.

As the match progressed towards the end, Salgaocar who were man down, chose to switch to the midfield play as their players tried to keep the ball more with them and make only counterattacks. In a few of it, Fhezer set up Antush with a brilliant through pass who darted in the box and shoot at the goal but Velsao keeper Rahul made a diving save to deny the Salgaocar lad. A few minutes later, Ribhav came with a defence-splitting through pass to find Antush but once again Velsao shot-stopper Rahul came off his line to thwart the danger.