Dempo 0-0 Salgaocar: Goan derby ends in a goalless draw

Salgaocar SC played out a goalless draw against I-League leaders Dempo SC at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Goa. However the match was far from being a typical boring game where both teams cancelled each other given that they attacked at every possible opportunity; that the match indeed goalless came as a shock to both coaches.

While Dempo had Densil Theobald in their midfield with Koko Sakibo and Ranti Martins upfront Salgaocar started with Edeh Chidi and Ryuji Suoeka to get them the goals.

The first half began in spectacular fashion as both teams looked to seize the early initiative and wrest control of the match. The first chance of the match fell to Bencherifa's boys in under five minutes but Suoeka made a hash of the chance as he shot wide with the goal at his mercy.

Almost immediately before the fifteenth minute, the league leaders missed two chances as first Ranti missed the target after Densil had put him through and then Koko failed to find the back of the net after comprehensively beating Meetei.

The first half also saw a controversial call from the referee as Ishfaq Ahmed's cross hit Sameer Naik's hand but the referee waved play on in spite of vehement protests. It was again Chidi who came close before the half hour mark as he shot wide from a Sueoka pass after Mahesh.Gawli was too slow to react.

It took Tomba Singh’s goal-line clearance to keep an effort of Koko out in order to keep the scores level before the break.

The second half began like the first but Dempo enjoyed far better possession of the ball. However it was Salgaocar who had the first chance when Chidi was inches away from opening the scoring from a Tomba Singh corner.

Then it was again Koko who found himself in the thick of things as his header flew wide. He was also responsible for shooting wide just after a couple of minutes as Ranti played him through, with Karanjit well beaten.

At the other end the combination of Sueoka and Chidi too failed to find the back of the net with Subhasish made a clutch of good saves.

However just as the match was to end, the best chance of the match fell to the wasteful Ranti Martins as he got the ball in the box after a brilliant piece of work by Koko where he robbed Sabrosa and played the ball to the free Nigerian who could not beat the Salgaocar custodian.

Thus in spite of a match which could have been very well a goal fest, surprisingly the match ended in a stalemate. However Dempo still maintain their 3 point advantage over second placed East Bengal while Salgaocar missed a golden opportunity to climb further upward in what could have helped them close the gap.