Vasco beat Salgaocar to move to second place
Vasco Sports Club survived several anxious moments in the second
half but their defence held on doggedly to enable them beat Salgaocar by a solitary goal and move to second
place in the National Football League.
In a battle between Goa teams, at the Nehru stadium in Margao, Goa, on Thursday, Vasco held the upper hand in the last ten minutes of the first half, when they scored the all-important goal in the 40th minute
through defender Denzil Coutinho.
Following a free-kick, Marcos Pereira, from the left,
floated the ball to Rui Wanderley Weis, who
chested the ball back to Marcos inside the box. The latter's shot at
the goal hit the crossbar and deflected to Coutinho, who headed into the net.
Three minutes later, Vasco could have increased the lead
when a header from Rui Wanderley was parried to safety by
Salgaocar 'keeper Kalyan Chaubey.
Salgaocar, who dominated the entire second half as also a better
part of the first half, had a glorious chance to equalise
three minutes before the interval but the off-colour Sunday
Seah failed to captilise on a chance when he was unmarked inside the box. Instead of taking a first time shot, he tried to beat a defender and was dispossed by Coutinho.
Vasco now join Mohun Bagan at the top of the table with 15
points from seven matches but are placed second due to
inferior goal diference.
Salgaocar, who suffered their second
defeat, remained on 12 points.
Referee Walter Pereira showed yellow cards to Vasco's Seby
Dias and Peter Rodrigues, and Salgaocar's Alvito D'Cunha.
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