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Sporting Clube de Goa’s chances to progress in the 128th Durand Cup was handed a major blow when they went down 1-2 in a key encounter against Army Green. Peecee (53′ penalty, 57′) scored both the goals for Army Green while Marcus Mascarenhas (83′) headed in a late consolation goal for Sporting Goa.
The first half witnessed very little action. Both teams resorted to a compact defence giving no space for the opponent forwards to operate. Sporting Goa playing in a 4-1-4-1 formation managed to dominate most of the first half with the midfield combination of Glan Martins and Cajetan Fernandes completing tons of passes and contributing a lion share of the possession. Marcus Mascarenhas and Ganesh Thakur made some good runs on either flanks trying to penetrate the Army Green defence and finding their hit man Victorino Fernandes. The Army Green’s defence also had an exceptional day on the pitch clearing almost all of Sporting Goa’s attempts to reach the net. The best opportunity of the first half came in the 43rd minute when Victorino beat the offside trap successfully and made a dash coming head on against the keeper but placed the ball inches wide. The first half ended goalless.
The second half saw Army Green step up the offence. Their attacking play opened up spaces in the Sporting Goa defence allowing their forwards to get into the box. In the 53rd minute Army Green won a penalty after a shot hit Loveday Enyinnaya’s arm. The penalty was converted by Peecee and within five minutes Peecee came back to haunt Sporting Goa’s defense when he found himself at the end of a brilliant cross from the left tapping it in to double the lead for Army Green.
The following quarter saw a desperate Sporting Goa throw everything they had trying to sneak one in but Army Green had shut shop with a well organised backline. Late in the 83rd minute Sporting Goa won a free kick which was delivered well by Cajetan Fernandes to find Marcus who headed home to give some hope to the Goan side, but a resilient Army defence killed any further chances being created neatly to see off the clock.
