Sporting Goa secure first win, ease past Velsao in GPL

Photo: Anthony Fernandes

Ravish Narvekar

Sporting defender Alton Vaz was awarded with the Man of the Match for a brilliant defending.

Sporting Clube de Goa secured their first win of the season as they down Velsao Sports & Cultural Club by a 3-1 margin in the second-round match of the Goa Professional League 2022-23 played at Duler stadium on Wednesday evening.

Ivon Costa opened the tally in the 24th minute for Sporting, while Meuton Fernandes converted a penalty in the 53rd minute to level back. The second-half goals by substitute Marcus Mascarenhas (70') and Lloyd Cardozo (90+7') helped the flaming Orange to claim first full points.

Keeper Sanij Bugde and U20 defender Joyson Coutinho were the two changes for the flaming Orange which suffered a narrow defeat against FC Goa, whereas, Velsao coach Ebam Mesquita chose to go with the same XI which earned him full points against Guardian Angel SC in their opening match.

After probing attacks from the kickoff, Sporting’s first potent chance came in the 12th minute when their forward Stendly Fernandes tried his luck from the distance but his curling strike was brilliantly parried over the crossbar by Velsao keeper Arnab Sharma. The opponents replied with a swift attack from the middle. Sporting forward Meuton Fernandes easily dribbled past a rival defender to enter the box but instead of directing the ball in the net, the forward tried to cut-past onrushing keeper Sanij. The delay gave the Sporting defender Alton Vaz a chance to clear the danger to keep his side safe.

Sporting were awarded a freekick just outside the box where Danstan Fernandes tried to find his teammate Clive Miranda with a curling strike from the set-piece but Velsao skipper Ronaldo Pereira made the timely interception to clear the ball at the cost of a corner. Another easy opportunity came in Sporting’s way in the 23rd minute as Stendly set up unmarked Nickson Castanha but rival keeper Arnab came with a brilliant block to deny the Sporting defender’s powerful strike.

However, the Flaming Orange managed to surge ahead in the very next minute when Velsao keeper Arnab collide with his teammate and went down on the pitch. Taking advantage of the same, Sporting midfielder Ivon Costa headed the ball into the empty net from outside the box to give his side a lead.

Velsao should have levelled back in the 33rd minute when their midfielder Romamrio Da Costa made a through pass to Shario Gomes in the box but the delay to pull the trigger helped the rival midfielder Ivon to thwart the U20 forward with a diving tackle.

Sporting managed to dominate the rest of the session with possession play, while Velsao tried hard to find the equaliser with a few more attacks but a strong defence by Sporting’s last line helped their side to enter halftime with a slender lead.

Trailing by a goal, Velsao started the second session on an attacking note where they were awarded a freekick just outside the box but forward Imran Khan could not make the most of it as Sporting defender Alton made the easy clearance.

Velsao got the best chance to make it all square in the 53rd minute when Meuton was in a commanding position to level back with just rival keeper Sanij at his stake but their defender Nickson brought down the rival striker in the box. The referee Ritesh Parsekar quickly pointed towards the spot awarding a penalty to the South Goans. Forward Meuton himself stepped forward and calmly converted the spot kick to make it 1-1 for his side.

The Flaming Orange were unlucky in the 55th minute when Liston Cardozo sent a perfect cross to Strendly near the rival frame where the Sporting forward saw his strike rebound off the right top corner. The loose ball was later cleared by Velsao defender Ronaldo.

Velsao were reduced to ten-man at the hour mark when their skipper Ronaldo was shown the second yellow card and a red card following a reckless tackle on Sporting's Danstan near the box.

Sporting coach Armando Colaco brought in experienced forward Marcus Mascarenhas and midfielder Veltio Cruz to sharpen them in the attack and the changes made a quick impact for the Flaming Orange as they managed to take the lead in the 70th minute. A well-taken corner by Veltio found Clive Miranda whose header hit the crossbar but the well-positioned Marcus headed the ball home to put his side ahead.

Sporting added another to their tally in the added minutes of the match as a fine trough pass by Stendly found Lloyd Cardozo who made no mistake to beat the Velsao keeper Arnab to make it 3-1.

Sporting forward Marcus who scored the goal for his side coming off the bench was seriously injured in the 80th minute and was rushed to the hospital for further treatment.