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Defending champions Sporting Clube De Goa demolished Churchill Brothers SC 4-0 in their opening match at the Duler Stadium in Mapusa on Tuesday evening. Sporting Goa completely outplayed the Red Machines in every department. The latter did not even manage one single shot on target. Basant Rai of Churchill Brothers opened the scoreline for Sporting Goa with an own goal in the 24th minute, while Cajetan Fernandes (41’) Glan Martins (63’) and Victorino Fernandes (74’) got on the scoresheet for Sporting Goa.
The initial quarter saw a fairly balanced game with both managing a handful of half chances at either ends. It was Sporting Goa who went full throttle as their attackline consisting of Victorino, Glan and Quan Gomes toyed with the clueless Churchill Brothers defense. It was in the 24th minute that a heavy clearance from Loveday Eninnaya found Victorino at the front who pushed for the goal, however the Churchill Brothers defender Basant Rai made a dash clearing the ball into his own nets. After this it was all Sporting Goa, Churchill Brothers defenders found it hard to contain Victorino’s pace which allowed Quan and Glan to operate smoothly in the mid creating numerous chances. In the 41st minute Sporting Goa won a free kick about 35 yards off the nets, Cajetan Fernandes stood up and slotted the ball into the top right corner giving the keeper no chance. The score stayed 2–0 in favour of Sporting Goa at the break.
Crossing over Sporting Goa picked up where they left off. Gaffer Mateus Costa introduced Seriton Fernandes which proved to be effective as the winger combined with Victorino well while the Churchill Brothers defence found it hard to contain Sporting Goa’s pace. In the 63rd minute Glan Martins latched on to a loose ball in a thickly populated box to beat his marker and drill in a powerful shot making it 3-0. Gaffer Costa quickly got Martins out and introduced Ganesh Thakur who set up Victorino for a photo finish serving the ball right into the slot for the latter to make it 4-0 in the 74th minute. The final quarter saw Sporting Goa seal off the defense giving very little room for the Churchill Brothers forwards to operate. With this win Sporting Goa climb to top of the Goa Pro League table with a healthy goal difference.
A jubilant Mateus Costa said after the game, “We needed this kind of a start, it’s good to see the boys play with confidence. We stuck to what we do in training and this is exactly the kind of result we get when that happens.”
“Now we travel for the Durand Cup and we are confident we can continue this form there as well,” Mateus added.
