MAPUSA
Sporting Clube de Goa edged Churchill Brothers FC with a 2-1 victory in their Goa Professional League clash at Duler Stadium, Mapusa, on Monday.
Churchill Brothers' Jobern Cardozo struck just before halftime, giving his side the lead. However, Sporting Clube de Goa leveled the score in the second half through Kunal Kundaikar. Churchill’s Trijoy Dias was shown a second yellow card for a reckless sliding challenge, leaving his team down to 10 men. Sporting Clube capitalized on the numerical advantage, with Kundaikar’s powerful strike, deflected slightly by Vikram Venkatachalam, sealing the win.
Sporting Clube started the game aggressively, raising the tempo in the opening 10 minutes. Young striker Shubert Borges looked lively, firing a shot from the edge of the box that narrowly missed the target.
Despite Sporting's early pressure, the Red Machines turned the game in their favor when Jobern Cardozo opened the scoring in the 10th minute. A well-timed through ball from Lunminlen Haokip split the SC Goa defense, finding Cardozo, who controlled it before smashing home from inside the box.
Sporting Clube responded with Rohan Rodrigues and Shaniel Lucas frequently switching flanks, delivering dangerous crosses. However, Churchill Brothers' defense held firm, maintaining their 1-0 lead at halftime.
The second half saw Sporting make key adjustments that shifted the balance in midfield. Rohan Rodrigues tested Churchill's goalkeeper, Gairik Roy, with a curling effort from the right flank, but Roy was equal to the task. Moments later, Dhiraj Chouhan’s header from a Selwyn Miranda corner rattled the crossbar, keeping Churchill's lead intact.
The equalizer finally came in the 58th minute when Kunal Kundaikar’s cross from the left flank”intended for Selwyn”had enough power to fly straight into the back of the net.
Churchill Brothers came close to restoring their lead when Kipgen’s shot from outside the box struck the woodwork. Soon after, Trijoy Dias, already on a yellow card, lost his composure and committed a rash challenge, earning him a second yellow and reducing Churchill to ten men.
In the dying minutes, Kunal Kundaikar unleashed a powerful shot from distance, with Vikram Venkatachalam getting a slight touch on the edge of the box, wrong-footing the Churchill goalkeeper and securing a 2-1 win for Sporting Clube.
