Velsao down Guardian Angel in Goa Pro League opener

Ravish Narvekar

Shario Gomes and Meuton Fernandes scored for Velsao to grab full points.

Velsao Sports & Cultural Club beat Guardian Angel Sports Club by a 2-1 margin in the opening match of the Goa Professional League 2022-23 played at Duler Stadium on Tuesday evening. Shario Gomes opened the tally for Velsao in the 45th minute, while Mueton Fernandes doubled their lead in the 51st minute. Rosario Mendes scored the consolation goal for the Angels in the added minutes.

It was an end-to-end affair in the first few minutes of the match where the Angels looked more potent with their attacks. However, it were Velsao who first looked at the goal in the 15th minute when their forward Meuton Fernandes dribbled past an Angels defender and tried his luck from the top of the box only to see it miss the target by distance. He had another opportunity to put his side ahead in the 20th minute as he once again fired a powerful strike from inside the box but Angels keeper Bisu Jana dived to his right to push the ball for a corner.

A few minutes before this, Angels came with another potent attack as this time Leedon Fernandes nicely curled it to Akash Jadhav in the box but the forward’s header went into the waiting hands of Velsao keeper Arnab Sharma.

After a midfield play in the next 20 minutes, Angels came with another raid on the rivals as Fedrich Fernandes sent a low cross in the box to feed his teammate but first Joywin Costa failed to connect from close. The ball rolled to unmarked Akash but the forward also could not make the most of the opportunity.

When it was looking like both sides will enter the dressing room without goals on their side at halftime, Velsao’s Shario Gomes put his side ahead in the 45th minute. A long clearance by their keeper Arnab was smartly headed to Sario by Imran Khan. The U-20 later covered some ground before clinically finishing the ball in the net to make it 1-0 for the Mormugao-based club.

A minute later, they had an opportunity to double their lead as Meuton nicely cut past a few opponents in the box and strike at the goal but his goalbound strike was blocked by the Angels keeper before it rebound off the crossbar.

It was just six minutes into the second session when Velsao double their lead. Meuton made no mistake from the spot to beat Angels keeper Bisu Jana following Angels’ Pranit Tamang handling the ball inside the box to give a penalty kick to the rivals.

Energized by a two-goal lead, Velsao came out all attacking and came close to further inflating the lead in the 65th minute as substitute Nigel Fernandes made a through pass to Imran Khan who saw his strike divingly stopped by Angels keeper Bisu. A couple of minutes later, they had another opportunity to extend their lead as Shario sent a low cross to Romario Da Costa in the box but his fierce shot deflected off an Angels defender before going out for a corner.

Angels keeper Bisu once again came up with a double save in the 77th minute to rescue his side as a sparkling shot from Arif Pathan was brilliantly saved by the custodian. The ball travelled to unmarked Romario in the box who went for glory but the Angels keeper came up with another diving save at the cost of a corner.

Angels substitute forward Prathamesh Gaonkar had a chance to reduce the margin in the 80th minute when he was in the commanding position to slot the ball in the home but the lad placement missed the target narrowly with the rival keeper completely out of position.

Angels finally managed to reduce the margin in the added minutes of the match as a fine cross by Johny Manbha was smartly headed in by Rosario Mendes to make it 2-1.