Friday , March 29 2024

Victorino Fernandes stars for Sporting Clube de Goa against Vasco SC in AWES Cup win!

Sporting Clube de Goa did their favourites reputation no harm as they demolished Vasco SC 5-1 in their opening Group D clash of the 1st AWES Cup 2017 at the Duler stadium in Mapusa on Monday.

Sporting Goa led 1-0 at half time with a goal from captain Victorino Fernandes. Sporting Goa had their star striker to thank for the big victory as Victorino scored a hattrick while other goals were scored by Marcus Mascarenhas and George D’Souza.

Vasco SC briefly tied the match when Beneston Barreto scored a gem of a goal from a superb build-up in the 53rd minute. The goal kept the match alive and Vasco supporters in the stands went into raptures. But Vasco could not eventually match their superior rivals and caved in to sustained pressure from Sporting Goa.

Even though Vasco tried to match their rivals, it was clear that Sporting Clube de Goa was the better of the two sides as their fluent passing was a treat for the eyes. Victorino started the damage in the 27th minute as he tapped the ball into the goal after Ganesh Thakur had done well to cross the ball inside the danger zone.

Vasco SC could have immediately restored parity but a cross from the right flank by Anil Gaonkar hit the top of the crossbar and sailed agonisingly wide.

In the second session, Sporting Clube de Goa continued to dominate with George D’Souza’s free-kick being kept away by goalkeeper Suresh Lamani.

Vasco got a whiff of goal almost immediately as substitute Steven Colaco sent a defence splitting pass to Franky Oliveira whose strike from a one-on-one situation was brilliantly blocked by Sporting Goa goalkeeper Ozen Silva.

Vasco, though, had better luck in the 53rd minute as Beneston Barreto equalised with a peach of a goal. It was Franky Oliveira who did all the hard work as he cut past a Sporting Goa defender and then relayed the ball for Beneston who finished brilliantly from close range.

Despite conceding the equaliser, Sporting Clube de Goa kept their shape and were rewarded for their dominance. In the 70th minute, Victorino collected a defence-splitting pass from Avhristo Fernandes, darted inside the penalty box and finished with a firm grounder.

Vitorino completed his hattrick with a superb solo effort in the 80th minute and Marcus Mascarenhas made it 4-1 with eight minutes left on the clock. Just when it seemed it would end that way, George D’Souza capped a fine evening for Sporting Clube de Goa with a blazing free-kick to give his team a 5-1 victory.

About Arunava Chaudhuri

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