Ozbey guides Dempo to 1-0 victory against Mohammedan

Margao,: A 77th minute strike by Tolgay Ozbey guided Dempo to a solitary goal victory over Mohammedan Sporting in a 21st round match of the I-League on saturday.

After a barren first half, Ozbey once again proved to be Dempo`s saviour when he struck in the 77th minute to give them full points and take them to fifth place with 29 points from 20 matches. Mohammedan Sporting, who are in the danger of relegation, remained on 12th place with 17 points from 19 matches. Dempo were in full strength today against Mohammedan Sporting with Clifford Miranda and defender Simon Colosimo back in the side after one match suspension. Striker Ozbey, who was also in the starting eleven after recovering from a niggling injury, created all sorts of trouble for the rival defence and had a couple of clear chances towards the end of the first half but could not score. Dempo even earned a penalty in the 39th minute but Ozbey`s weak shot was blocked by rival keeper Luis Barreto and off the rebound, Romeo too failed to score. Mohammedan, who were without their dependable defender Luciano Sobrosa, did well in defending their citadel until the closing stages when Tolgay struck the winner in the 77th minute. They came close in finding the mark towards the end but Penn Orji`s tremendous shot was saved by the home team keeper Laximakant Kattamani. However, Mohammed looked better side in the second half with Josimar leading the attack along with Asif Biswas. With good backing from Orji, they were constantly threatening the rival goal with Josimar coming close to scoring twice but failed to find the target.