PANAJI
Sporting Clube de Goa defeated Cortalim Villagers 3-0 in the Goa Professional League at Duler Stadium, Mapusa on Friday.
Sporting took control early and opened the scoring in the tenth minute. Kunal Kundaikar played a precise long ball from midfield that found Naocha Singh, who brought it down neatly and slotted a low shot into the bottom-left corner to give his side the lead.
Moments later, Sporting almost doubled their advantage when Joyson Coutinho delivered a cross from the right towards Mark Carvalho, but his header sailed just over the bar. Cortalim replied through Airen Fernandes, who tried his luck from distance, but goalkeeper Abhimanyu Singh collected comfortably.
Cortalim had another chance when Clifton Rebello was fouled at the edge of the box, earning a free kick. Airen struck it powerfully, but Abhimanyu Singh reacted quickly to push the ball away from danger. Sporting regained their rhythm soon after, with Francisco Fernandes playing a pass to Naocha at the edge of the area. His first-time strike forced another good save from the Cortalim keeper as the first half ended with Sporting leading 1-0.
Cortalim came out stronger after the break and were handed a golden opportunity to equalise when Airen’s strike hit the hand of Sporting’s Edwin Viegas inside the box. Airen stepped up to take the penalty, but Abhimanyu Singh dived low to his left to make a brilliant save and deny Cortalim a way back.
The missed penalty proved costly as Sporting doubled their advantage minutes later. Substitute Rohan Rodrigues slipped a clever through ball to Francisco Fernandes, who calmly finished past the keeper to make it 2-0.
Naocha Singh, already on the scoresheet, turned provider soon after. He fed Mark Carvalho inside the box and the forward powered his shot into the net to seal a 3-0 victory for Sporting Clube de Goa.
Cortalim pushed late in the game but Sporting’s defence held firm to keep a clean sheet and secure a convincing win.
