I-League: Dempo Win A Last Minute Thriller As Beto Scores An Injury Time Winner

Dempo survived a scare as they beat Sporting Club De Goa 2-1 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Goa. The victory took them seven points clear of their nearest rivals Mahindra United.

The Flaming Oranje shocked the league leaders in the 21st minute when Adil Khan scored the opener. Dempo’s Brazilian midfielder Beto showed his class when he equalized in the 50th minute and also sealed the match in the dying moments of the game.

Sporting Clube De Goa, who have been on the revamp, were ready to pull off yet another shocker in the local derby. They started the match well and it wasn’t surprising that they who created the first chance when an organized move initiated by Bisheswor Singh in the 14th minute saw Junior Elijah dribble past many defenders before taking a feeble shot on goal.

The breakthrough finally came in the 21st minute when Adil Khan scored from a header after Bisheswor curled in a good free-kick from the right. After the goal, they continued to have a lion’s share of possession and managed to create a few chances for Agnelo D’Souza and Junior.

After the break, it was a different story altogether as it took just five minutes for Armando Colaco’s boys to equalise as Beto walked past at least four Sporting shirts before placing the ball to the right of goalkeeper Felix D’Souza.

The heat was making life difficult for both the teams to maintain their
momentum as even the referee had to be replaced by the fourth official!

Dempo kept pursuing relentlessly to score the winner especially from the left as Joaquim Abranches kept probing the Sporting backline.

They got their fair share of chances as Anthony Pereira and Peter Carvalho put in extra efforts to gain an upper advantage in the match,

It was in the injury time when Beto turned a hero for his side as he headed home from a Peter Carvalho cross from the right to seal the match in Dempo’s favour.

The title is Dempo’s to lose now with another four matches to go while for Sporting, the desperation to save their season only heightens.

Goalscorer Sporting: Junior Elijah (21st min)

Goalscorer Dempo: Beto (50th and 93rd min)