MARGAO
Panjim Footballers thumped Guardian Angel Sports Club 5-1 in the Goa Professional League at Duler Stadium, Mapusa, on Sunday.
Panjim Footballers dominated the game and their opponents were at the receiving end. They found the early breakthrough when an attack from the right saw them capitalise on the move. In the 26th minute, Nicklas Noronha scored with a low grounder, giving no chance to the rival keeper Oswin Rodrigues. He was assisted by Dhiraj Chouhan.
In the 37th minute, Guardian Angel had the best chance to restore parity when Peter Carvalho flicked a first-time pass forward to Saivish Singh, who had the goal at his sight but shot over the bar from touching distance. In the 43rd minute, Guardian Angel got themselves in the game with a cracking goal from a set piece. Chandan Oraw connected beautifully to a Guardian Angel corner kick as his perfectly timed volley crashed into the net.
At the other end, Panjim looked to get an immediate lead when Malcom Gonsalves ran down the left flank and tried to get Doyal Alves in the box, but the keeper came off the line to thwart the danger.
In the second half, Nicklas had the chance to put his side ahead when he managed to break into the rival area, but he couldn’t find Doyal Alves in the box. In the 56th minute, Doyal Alves failed to convert the best chance that came his way when a long ball from midfield broke the Guardian Angel back line and with the goalkeeper leaving his line, the striker failed to keep his shot on goal.
However, what Doyal couldn’t do, Maximo D’Costa did in the same minute. This time it was Nicklas Noronha with an assist, as he headed the ball to Maximo, who made no mistake to score, 2-0.
Later, Nicklas was denied by a brilliant save by the Guardian Angel keeper. However, from the resultant corner, Panjim scored their third when the Curchorem side failed to clear the ball and Dhiraj who got the ball inside the box and fired home with a powerful shot.
In the 63rd minute, Panjim scored their fourth. The Guardian Angel SC's high-line defence never looked working in the game and despite their keeper twice denying the opponents with two brilliant saves, he couldn’t stop Maximo from scoring his second of the day. The defence should have done better to clear the danger. Nicklas scored his fourth and the team’s fifth in the 76th minute.
