PANAJI
Aaren D'Silva scored a brace to help FC Goa come from behind to beat 10-man Calangute Association 2-1 in the Selvel Goa Professional League, at Duler Stadium, Mapusa, on Thursday.
Jirjar Terang turned from hero to villain for Calangute as he put Calangute ahead in the 36th minute, but was sent off in the 79th minute. With 10 minutes left, FC Goa fired two goals through Aaren (80', 88') to seal three points.
Calangute were clearly the better side in the first half, though FC Goa had the first two chances soon after the start. Sarineo Fernandes saw his effort blocked by keeper Jeet Gupta and then it was Vasim Inamdar, who squandered a chance. Sarineo crossed a perfect ball in the box from the left flank which found Inamdar, and the latter chested the ball and shot wide from close range.
Calangute then created numerous chances as their foreign recruit Kouame Junior troubled the FC Goa defence. Calangute came close to scoring from a set-piece when Nickson Castanha sent in a left-footed curler which was headed into the danger zone by Junior, but Fulganco Cardozo missed an open sitter.
Calangute took the lead when Junior squared the ball to an unmarked Jirjar, and the U-20 player placed the ball calmly past the keeper from outside the box to give his side the lead. FC Goa nearly levelled terms just before the breather when Inamdar guided in Aaren's cross but the effort was cleared off the line by a Calangute defender.
FC Goa showed urgency soon after the restart and maintained possession. However, they nearly suffered a setback when last man Ivan Costa lost possession to substitute Daryl Costa, who covered some distance and with just the keeper to beat, opted to pass the ball to Siddhant, but the keeper saved the latter's shot.
Calangute suffered a huge blow when goal-scorer Jirjar was sent off for his second booking in the 79th minute. And FC Goa came with an instant answer. Sarineo played a cross from the left in the box, which was nodded in by Aaren, 1-1. Aaren scored an 88th-minute winner when he nodded in a Deeshank Kunkalikar cross from the right.
