by
Dempo Sports Club scored a comfortable 5-0 victory over Sporting Clube de Goa in the second round match of the I-League at the Nehru Stadium, Fatorda, on Friday (October 12).
Anthony Pereira and Ryuji Sueoka were the goal getters for Dempo in the first session while Clifford Miranda scored a brace of goals and Koko Sakibo scored a penalty in injury time.
Both coaches made one change from the team that played the openers. For Dempo, coach Armando Colaco opted to start with former Arsenal player Rohan Ricketts in central midfield, thus leaving experienced midfielder Climax Lawrence on the bench. At the other end, Sporting coach Ekendra Singh was forced to bring in Prathesh Shirodkar to take the place of injured Mackroy Peixoto in midfield.
Dempo were evidently the better side and it showed in the number of chances they created early in the game. Japanese striker Ryuji, who partnered Joaquim Abranches, was always a threat and it came as no surprise that the first goal in the 14th minute had his involvement. The Japanese striker stretched full length to deflect Clifford Miranda’s cross from the left but Sporting goalkeeper Ashok Singh was on hand to avert the danger. Only just, though, as Anthony Pereira lurking nearby was allowed a simple tap in.
Dempo made it 2-0 in the 22nd minute and against it was Clifford and Sueoka who were in the thick of action. This time, however, Sueoka made no mistake from close range after Clifford and Abranches had done the spadework.
Sporting Clube, starting for the second time without a foreign player, hardly made any impact. They had clear looks at the goal only from outside the box and the subsequent attempts from afar hardly caused Dempo goalkeeper Subhashish Roy Chowdhury any discomfort.
In the second session, Dempo continued to be lethal but both of their goals came from counter attacks. The first, in the 69th minute, saw Nigerian striker Koko Sakibo lob a long ball towards Clifford and the India midfielder made no mistake picking the far post.
Three minutes later, Sakibo and Clifford Miranda combined again to put the match beyond Sporting’s reach. Sakibo should have himself scored but Clifford was on hand to turn home Ashok’s one-handed save.
In injury time, Sueoka won a penalty for Dempo which Sakibo subsequently scored.
