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A late Mevan Dias strike helped FC Goa to a deserved point against Salgaocar FC on Sunday in the Goa Pro League. The young Gaurs looked to be headed towards a second loss in three matches after Mark Carvalho’s strike.
Despite being the better team, the Gaurs had to wait till the fag end of the match to find their much deserved goal, cementing their second consecutive 1-1 draw since the 2021/22 Goa Pro League kicked back into action.
The first half was all about FC Goa, except for Salgaocar FC’s goal in the 40th minute. As expected, the Gaurs had more ball-possession and created the best chances. It was Salgaocar, however, that found the back of the net first.
Deggie Cardozo’s boys came close to scoring in the 17th minute, but Jovial Dias’s header was a few inches too high. Dias tried another attempt three minutes later, but his shot was deflected away for a corner-kick.
With just five minutes remaining in the first period, Salgaocar FC scored against the run of play. Mark Carvalho exploited the space gifted to him by the FC Goa defence deep in their own half, and even a fully-stretched dive by goalkeeper Hansel Coelho was not enough to prevent it from going in.
The Gaurs kick-started the proceedings in the second half. Their hunger for the equaliser was quite evident in the way they returned from the break, as they increased the intensity of their attacks and pressed harder to win possession.
Mevan Dias, Velroy Fernandes, Ivon Costa and Jovial got opportunities to find the back of the net early on, but the Salgaocar FC goalkeeper came on top in each occasion.
FC Goa’s had a real chance of getting back into the game in the 70th minute when HP Lalremruata found himself in loads of space and unleashed a shot which, however, only kissed the crossbar on its way out.
With only six minutes remaining before the final whistle, the Men in Orange came close to finding their equaliser yet again when Mevan headed in from close-range. The Salgaocar FC keeper, however, pulled off a miraculous save to deny the forward.
Mevan would not take no for an answer on the day and finally delivered with literally the last kick of the game, curling in a brilliant long ranger to earn his side a worthy point.
FC Goa move on to 19 points from their 10 games and look to be in prime position for qualifying for the next stage of the competition.
