I-League: Goalless stalemate between Salgaocar FC and East Bengal

Salgaocar FC and East Bengal Club provided for plenty of entertainment but neither team could put the ball at the back of the net in their I-League encounter at the Duler ground in Mapusa on Wednesday afternoon.

In a hugely-entertaining battle where chances were created at either end, Salgaocar FC seemed the better of the two sides, collectively, although it were Armando Colaco’s East Bengal who had a bigger share of the gild-edge chances. Crucially, Salgaocar FC missed a spot-kick after Matthew Foschini’s 25th minute penalty was brilliantly parried away by goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, who replaced seasoned Abhijit Mondal under the East Bengal bar and he was in superb form throughout the game, pulling off another stunning save to deny Scottish striker Darryl Duffy in the second session from close range.

East Bengal, choosing to start with Edeh Chidi and James Moga upfront, lacked the cutting edge upfront, and when Moga or Chidi thought they had finally broken the duck, Salgaocar goalkeeper Karanjit Singh stood between them and the goal. Karanjit was at his best in the last minute of the first session when Naoba Singh’s cross from the right was flicked towards goal by a leaping Moga, only for Karanjit to produce a finger-tip save.

East Bengal’s chances were more pronounced, particularly in the opening minutes. Caitano Costa, the Salgaocar defender, lost the ball to Moga just outside the box and the South Sudanese striker did well to feed Sueoka on the right, Sueoka had all the time in the world to pick his spot but with Karanjit in goal, Sueoka ended shooting wide.

At the other end, Rocus Lamare had done well to pick Milagres Gonsalves inside the danger zone, and the Salgaocar midfielder took everyone by surprise when he chested the ball in the path of Duffy. It seemed like the best opportunity of the evening for Duffy but Gurpreet rose to the occasion with another superlative save.

Armando Colaco introduced fresh legs with Seiminlen Doungel replacing Shylo Malswam Tulunga on the right of midfield, and although the youngster had pace, there was no incisiveness.

Derrick Pereira’s idea to bring in another striker in Marcus Mascarenhas for Milagres seemed well intentioned but in the end, both teams had to settle for a point each.

Salgaocar went into today’s game following a three match losing streak but never seemed like they were inferior to anyone. East Bengal, now slowly working their way up, will not be too disappointed with the end result though they lost two points on the day.