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I-League: Sporting Clube De Goa Shock Mahindra United In Their Battle For Survival Against All Odds
Game on...
04-May-2010 6:54:00 PM
By Rahul Bali
Sporting Clube De Goa brilliantly came back to pip Mahindra United for the first time in Goa as they won 3-2 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in a round 24 I-League match this evening.
Second half goals from Junior Elijah and Adil Khan proved to be the difference as they cut the 2-1 advantage Mahindra United enjoyed at half time with goals coming from Sushil Singh and Mohammed Rafi while Nathaniel Amos scored one for the home side.
The victory lifts the spirit of the Flaming Oranje as they now move to 24 points with another two rounds to go and are placed 13th on the table.
The match started with both teams showing some attacking vigour with Sporting having the better of the exchanges with Adil Khan being the man of the moment linking well with Freiman Peixoto on the right.
The first real opportunity came in the eighth minute as Freiman’s cross saw Adil get into a good position but was denied by a timely header by Denzil Franco for a flag-kick.
Lamine Tamba did well to interrupt a Sporting pass and went onwards towards the goal before laying it back for Sushil Singh who for reasons unknown left it in the 20th minute.
Two minutes later, Rovan Pereira pulled back Mohammed Rafi inside the box as the referee pointed to the spot with Sushil Singh making amends for his earlier miss with a top class spot-kick.
Junior Elijah was selfish as he refused to pass to Agenlo who was free and choose to shoot aimlessly while the latter wasted an opportunity with a free header inside the box going out.
Around the half hour mark, Kenji Arai had to be substituted as he was injured as coach Vishwas Gaonkar sent in Nathaniel Amos which meant that Adil Khan had to track behind as a defender.
Krishnan Ajayan sent in a long ball as Mohammed Rafi beat the offside trap and coolly slotted in to take his goals tally to 14 in the I-League.
In the second session, Mahindra United looked a different side and didn’t really offer a fight seeming content to stay behind to allow the opposition to attack them.
The move finally proved them costly but was momentarily delayed by the linesman as a Freiman Peixoto cross was deflected and fell at Agnelo’s feet with only the goalkeeper to beat and the official raised his flag for offside!
Around the hour mark, Steven Dias’ deflected attempt came off the upper part of the cross bar as Sporting lived dangerously but were intent on probing the Mahindra half.
The equaliser came in the 75th minute when Bisheshwor Singh’s cross from the left was headed across by Michael Tayo to see Junior Elijah come up with a low diving header to give hope to the assembled crowd.
Sporting were denied a penalty in the 77th minute as Lmaine Tamba clearly fouled Junior Elijah inside the box but the referee choose to ignore.
It was Tamba again who made the mistake as he conceded a needless free-kick on the edge of the box as Junior Elijah whipped in a low shot which was blocked by Subashish Chowdhury but Adil Khan picked up the pieces to send the Sporting fans into ecstasy.
It was in the fourth minute of the injury time that Mohammed Rafi unleashed a peach of a shot which came off the sidebar as Sporting players heaved a sigh of relief at the sound of the final whistle.
Goalscorers Sporting: Nathaniel Amos (37th min), Junior Elijah (75th min) and Adil Khan (81st min)
Goalscorers Mahindra: Sushil Singh pen (23rd min) and Mohammed Rafi (37th min)
Second half goals from Junior Elijah and Adil Khan proved to be the difference as they cut the 2-1 advantage Mahindra United enjoyed at half time with goals coming from Sushil Singh and Mohammed Rafi while Nathaniel Amos scored one for the home side.
The victory lifts the spirit of the Flaming Oranje as they now move to 24 points with another two rounds to go and are placed 13th on the table.
The match started with both teams showing some attacking vigour with Sporting having the better of the exchanges with Adil Khan being the man of the moment linking well with Freiman Peixoto on the right.
The first real opportunity came in the eighth minute as Freiman’s cross saw Adil get into a good position but was denied by a timely header by Denzil Franco for a flag-kick.
Lamine Tamba did well to interrupt a Sporting pass and went onwards towards the goal before laying it back for Sushil Singh who for reasons unknown left it in the 20th minute.
Two minutes later, Rovan Pereira pulled back Mohammed Rafi inside the box as the referee pointed to the spot with Sushil Singh making amends for his earlier miss with a top class spot-kick.
Junior Elijah was selfish as he refused to pass to Agenlo who was free and choose to shoot aimlessly while the latter wasted an opportunity with a free header inside the box going out.
Around the half hour mark, Kenji Arai had to be substituted as he was injured as coach Vishwas Gaonkar sent in Nathaniel Amos which meant that Adil Khan had to track behind as a defender.
Krishnan Ajayan sent in a long ball as Mohammed Rafi beat the offside trap and coolly slotted in to take his goals tally to 14 in the I-League.
In the second session, Mahindra United looked a different side and didn’t really offer a fight seeming content to stay behind to allow the opposition to attack them.
The move finally proved them costly but was momentarily delayed by the linesman as a Freiman Peixoto cross was deflected and fell at Agnelo’s feet with only the goalkeeper to beat and the official raised his flag for offside!
Around the hour mark, Steven Dias’ deflected attempt came off the upper part of the cross bar as Sporting lived dangerously but were intent on probing the Mahindra half.
The equaliser came in the 75th minute when Bisheshwor Singh’s cross from the left was headed across by Michael Tayo to see Junior Elijah come up with a low diving header to give hope to the assembled crowd.
Sporting were denied a penalty in the 77th minute as Lmaine Tamba clearly fouled Junior Elijah inside the box but the referee choose to ignore.
It was Tamba again who made the mistake as he conceded a needless free-kick on the edge of the box as Junior Elijah whipped in a low shot which was blocked by Subashish Chowdhury but Adil Khan picked up the pieces to send the Sporting fans into ecstasy.
It was in the fourth minute of the injury time that Mohammed Rafi unleashed a peach of a shot which came off the sidebar as Sporting players heaved a sigh of relief at the sound of the final whistle.
Goalscorers Sporting: Nathaniel Amos (37th min), Junior Elijah (75th min) and Adil Khan (81st min)
Goalscorers Mahindra: Sushil Singh pen (23rd min) and Mohammed Rafi (37th min)
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