Sporting Clube de Goa shock Salgaocar 4-2

Panaji: Sporting Clube de Goa registered an upset victory over defending champions Salgaocar 4-2 in a fourth round I-league football clash here at the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium in Fatorda.

This was Salgaocar`s third defeat of the 2011-12 campaign. South Sudan striker James Moga scored a hat-trick for the winning side with Nigerian midfielder Ogba Kalu Nnanna also adding his name to the scoresheet. For Salgaocar, Ryuji Sueoka and Edeh Chidi scored a goal each. Sporting Clube de Goa coach Ekendra Singh made three changes to his starting line-up from the previous match, bringing in goalkeeper Gerard D`Mello, Rojen Singh and Adil Khan, while Salgaocar`s Karim Bencherifa started with Anthony Barbosa and Francis Fernandes on the wings. Salgaocar took the lead through Sueoka in the third minute, however, Sporting Clube not only equalised through Moga but he himself made it 2-1 in the 27th minute. Chidi, once again equalised for the defending champions before Kalu (64th) and Moga (65th) struck to make it 4-2. It all started when Sporting Clube`s Rojen brought down Sueoka inside the box, which didn`t leave the match referee much choice but to award a penalty to Salgaocar. And the Japanese midfielder dispatched the spot-kick and sent Gerard D`Mello to the wrong side to make it 1-0 for his team. Eight minutes later, Salgoacar`s Luciano Sobrosa fouled James Moga and from the free-kick the latter scored the equaliser. Sporting thereafter defended well to deny Sueoka and Anthony Barbosa on separate occasions. But from a throw-in, Freiman Peixoto found Moga who cut inside Khelemba Meetei and saw his shot take a deflection of Sobrosa on its way in at around the half-hour mark. Karanjit Singh dived to his left to deny Kalu Nnanna after the Nigerian was fed by a back-heel pass of Moga. Sporting, meanwhile, wasted an opportunity when Chidi could not capitalise on a Jaspal Parmar cross, while Jovel Martins also sent Freiman Peixoto`s cross off target from close range. Salgaocar, however, managed to find the equaliser before the end of the first half after Anthony Barbosa powered his way from the right and sent in a low cross that beat keeper Gerard D`Mello. Keita Boubacar tried to affect a goal-line clearance but couldn`t get there in time as Chidi guided the ball at the back of the net. After the break, Salgaocar showed signs of getting their act together when Jaspal Parmar`s header came off the post from a Sueoka cornerkick. However, Kalu increased Sporting`s lead when he headed past a hapless Karanjit Singh from a Joseph Pereira free-kick with the entire Salgaocar defense sleeping. The very next minute saw Moga complete his hat-trick as he did the needful after Victorino Fernandes crossed from the right. Bencherifa did try to shake things up with the introduction of Gilbert Oliviera but Sporting were in no mood to drop any points and thus kept the Salgaocar brigade under check until the end. PTI